Rewriting the Past
by jbriz
Summary: Everything was gone. With one attack, Madara had wiped out everything I held dear. I was about ready to give up, but then I was offered another chance. A chance to do it all over again. A chance to save everyone. Time travel. good Kyuubi, Pairings: Mina/Kushi, Naru/Hina (later on), others to follow. rated T for violence, some language, and minor mature references.
1. Chapter 1

_**Rewriting the Past**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Posted Dec 11, 2012

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This is my second fanfic that I have posted on this site. I have always been a fan of the time travel genre of the Naruto fanfics and I have decided to take a shot at writing one. It starts around ch 610ish of the manga and then goes back. Pairings will most likely be NaruHina, MinaKushi, and some others (have not decided on them just yet). This story will begin as T rated, but may change to M depending on the content I add in the future.

I hope you enjoy.

Normal

_Thought_

**Demonic speech/summon speech**

_**Demonic thought/summon thought**_

Technique

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**Chapter 1: A New Chance **

"_What…What just happened?"_ a blonde haired shinobi said, staring out over the scars of what was once the battle field for the future of the shinobi world.

"Just give up now. As you can see, it's hopeless. Surrender the Kyuubi and I can bring back your friends. In the Infinite Tsukuyomi, I can bring them back. The world that you've always wanted can be yours. It's futile to resist" called out Tobi, standing aside the revived Uchiha Madara on top of the recently revived Jyuubi. "I've wiped out all your friends; there is nothing left for you in this world."

Naruto sank to his knees in despair. Everyone…Sakura, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Neji, Tenten, Bushy Brows, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Kakashi-sensei, Gai-sensei, Bee…everyone was gone. There were maybe a dozen or two or at most who had survived the massive attack that the Jyuubi had just unleashed upon the Allied Shinobi Forces, and they were in no condition to fight. Some were injured to the point where they would die in a matter of minutes, others were just as shaken as he was. All of his friends…gone.

The only reason he was still alive was because of Bee. Bee had jumped in the way of the attack at the last minute, shielding Naruto. However, the blast was so powerful that everything in the area was destroyed. The only one who remained that could even stand a chance against such a monster was Naruto, and after witnessing what he just did, he was in no condition to fight.

"Did it…did it really come to this? After everything I did to become stronger…was it still not enough?" asked Naruto to himself.

"If you surrender now, I can bring everyone back. If not…well just look around you" called out Tobi once again.

"_I…I can't…I can't win"_ said Naruto as his heart sank deeper into despair.

Inside him, he could hear the laughter of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, Kurama, who he had just recently befriended less than a day ago. **"And to think, only a few days ago, I would have given anything to hear those words from you. For you to give in like you are now. Where did you go? Where did the real you go? The one who said they would never give up? Where is he now?"** said Kurama.

"_Look around you…it's all gone. All my friends…they're all gone!" _shouted Naruto. _"What would I do? I've lost them. The one's I swore I would protect! How the hell am I supposed to win if I can't protect them?!"_

The Kyuubi looked on at Naruto. The boy who he had thought to be unbreakable, was finally beginning to break…and he couldn't bear to see Naruto like this. **"What would you do? What would you do if you could take it back? If you could start over?"**

"_Huh? S-start over? But how?" _said Naruto, looking up at the giant red fox in his mindscape.

"**There is a technique I know. One that I have yet to use and one that was taught to me by my father, Rikidou-jiji. One that will give us that chance"** said the Kyuubi.

"_Really?!" _Naruto looked up at the Kyuubi, eyes now regaining some of their hope. _"What does it do? What do I have to do? I'll do anything! I'll make sure none of this happens!" _

"**There's the Naruto I knew. Just follow the hand seals as I call them out. I'll take care of the chakra"** said Kurama. He then felt something from outside Naruto…the Jyuubi was powering up for another attack. **"We need to hurry, or we won't be around much longer."**

"_Right. Let's do it" _said Naruto, regaining his fire.

"**Right, remember do the hand seals exactly as I call them out"** said Kurama. Naruto nodded, indicating he was ready. **"Here we go…I, Inu, Ushi, Mi, Tora, Ne, Uma, Saru…"**

Tobi and Madara noticed that Naruto had begin going through hand seals. "Looks like you have chosen death" said Tobi as he prepared the Jyuubi for the next…and final attack.

"…**Tora, Snake, Rat, Uma, Saru, Inu, I…"** Naruto went through the seals as the Jyuubi unleashed the attack. **"…Saru, Tora, Hitsuji, Mi! ****Time Reversal Jutsu****!" **

The Jyuubi's attack hit Naruto just as he completed the last of the hand seals. The explosion was suddenly shattered by a ball of white light that suddenly disappeared, leaving nothing where it was.

* * *

Naruto woke to find himself drifting in what looked to be space with the giant red Kyuubi next to him.

"Kurama, what is this?" asked a confused Naruto.

"**Time travel. We are going back. Back to the day everything started" **said Kurama.

"Huh? Really? We are going back in time? How far?!" asked Naruto.

"**As far back as you can go…the moment of your birth" **said Kurama.

"My-my birth? Does that mean…my parents?" asked Naruto.

"**Yes Naruto. The moment you came out of your mother womb. The moment just before that bastard attacked you. The moment where we can begin to change everything" **said Kurama.

"What, really?! Does that mean I can save my parents?!" said Naruto, getting all excited.

"**I think so, but we will need to act fast. We need to act before that Tobi guy can take your mother and extract me" **said the Kyuubi.

"Huh? Extract you? But you'll be sealed in me, won't you?" asked Naruto.

"**No. And if things work out, I never will. Now listen to me carefully because we are almost there. The moment we get there, we need to do everything we can to warn your parents. You'll just be a newborn and I'll be sealed inside your mother. If I remember correct, we will have maybe a minute at most to warn them. I need you to make as much noise as possible and I'll do my best to get through to that thick headed woman you call you mother"** said Kurama.

Ahead of them, they could see light. The end of their journey through time was coming to an end and the next minute or two would possibly make or break everything.

"**I can't believe I am saying this, but thank you Naruto, thank you for helping me out back there"** said Kurama.

"Heh, don't mention it. You're my friend after all. Hell, you're practically like a brother to me" said Naruto. The light brightened until there was only light. They had arrived at their destination.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes for the very first time. He could barely move and he felt weird, but taking a quick look around, he saw someone that nearly made him tear up…his dad, the Yondaime Hokage, standing over him and looking like the happiest man in the world.

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Alright, so let me know how it started out. Also, the next chapters will be longer. This was just to get it started. Please review and comment.


	2. Chapter 2: The Crucial First Minutes

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own Naruto

Posted: 12/12/12

**Author Note:** I know this chapter came soon after the first. This will not always be the case. I plan to get the first 5-7 chapter up rather quick so that I can get a foundation for the story and to get more people reading it. However, after that I will probably switch to updating every week (at the earliest) and every 2 weeks (at the latest). Just want to let you know not to expect daily updates after I get the first few chapters up and running.

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**Chapter 2: The Crucial First Minutes**

Uzumaki Kushina was crying out in pain as she began to deliver the baby which she carried. All the while, she was struggling to keep the Kyuubi, which she had sealed inside her, in check. If there was any night where the Kyuubi could escape, it was tonight. The seal on her had weakened over the past few months as her energy was more focused on the developing child within her womb than it was the great demon sealed within her. Thankfully, she had help.

Her husband, Namikaze Minato and the Yondaime Hokage, was doing everything in his power to keep the Kyuubi's seal in check and to help his wife through the trials of childbirth.

"I can see the head! Just a little more, Kushina!" shouted Biwoku, the midwife responsible for delivering Kushina's child.

"Naruto! Come out!" shouted Minato. "Kyuubi, you stay in!"

Kushina gritted her teeth one last time and gave one more push. Suddenly, the sounds of the room were filled with that of a crying child. Kushina tried to regain her breath as she began to cry as Biwoku wrapped the newly born boy in a blanket. She was so excited by the event that had just taken place that she didn't notice that the Kyuubi had unexplainably settled down.

Naruto opened his eyes, finding himself in some chamber with his father looking down at him, tearing up by the fact that he was finally a father. Naruto's crying stopped for a moment as he realized where he was. He was in his own body…the very moment after he had just been born. They had done it…he and Kurama were now in the past.

"…_I need you to make as much noise as possible…"_ the words the Kyuubi had given him before they arrived in the past echoed in his head. Naruto knew what was coming next and there was no way he would let that happen, despite his limited ability to do anything at the moment…besides cry. As such, he began bursting out in an uncontrollable fit of crying.

Kushina let out a deep breath as she looked at her newly born son. She then closed her eyes, only for a moment, awaking to find herself in her own mindscape facing the Kyuubi, who was chained and staked to a large black sphere.

"**Took you long enough. You've got to get out of here. You and your Kit are in danger"** warned the Kyuubi. Kushina looked on in utter confusion. **"Don't give me that look. Wake up and look around! He's here! Uchiha Madara! And if he isn't stopped, you and your Kit are as good as dead! Now get OUT!" **

The Kyuubi's last bark forced Kushina back into the real world, causing her to sit up straight, despite the pain originating from her waist as a result of just giving birth. It was then she saw him…the man the Kyuubi was talking about…Uchiha Madara. Her eyes grew wide. She didn't know why she believed the KYuubi, but that man wasn't supposed to me here. "MINATO!" she shouted pointing to the man. Minato turned around just in time to see the masked man slash Taji, another or the midwives, across the neck, sending her to the ground…dead.

He made a quick move for Biwoko and the bundle containing Naruto, realizing he had been noticed. The masked man slashed with a knife at Biwoko, only for it to pass through thin air…and a flash of yellow light. Another flash appeared next to Kushina as Minato appeared, carrying an injured Biwoko and his son, Naruto.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" asked Minato. _"How did he get through the barrier?"_

"Give me the jinchuriki" said the man. Minato's eyes widened as he looked at Kushina.

"And why would I do that?" responded Minato.

"Unless you want your son to die, you'll hand her over" said the masked man, disappearing in a votex and reappearing behind Minato and Kushia. He began to suck them into his vortex as well, but Minato was faster. Just in time, he used the Hiraishi to escape the masked man's grasp, taking Kushina, Naruto, and Biwoko with him.

* * *

Saruobi Hiruzen was sitting inside the Hokage's office, observing the events that just transpired with the crystal ball. He let out a sigh of relief when we saw that the four of them had gotten away from the masked man, only to see a flash of yellow light appear before him.

"Minato, Biwoko!" he shouted, rising from his chair.

"Hiruzen, we were attacked. Somehow, a masked man got through the barrier" explained Minato before being silenced by the Sandaime.

"I know. I saw everything and I am relieved you are okay, but it pains me to see that Taji is dead" said the Sandaime. "Who was that man?"

"I don't really know…" said Minato.

"Uchiha Madara…" said Kushina, shocking everyone in the room. "How I know surprises even me, but I think that is the man's name"

"Madara? Are you sure?" asked Sarutobi.

"I don't know. And I don't know why, but it was the Kyuubi that warned me" said Kushina.

"The Kyuubi? But how?" asked Minato.

"Again, I don't know. All I remember is him calming down for some reason and then I closed my eyes for a second and appeared before him. I can't out my finger on it, but he seemed…different. Anyways, he said we were in danger before forcing me back into the real world and when I sat up…there was that man. Just as the Kyuubi had warned" said Kushina.

"This is troubling indeed. ANBU!" ordered Sarutobi. In the already crowded office, about a dozen ANBU appeared. "A man wearing an orange spiral mask in a cloak just attacked the secure location where Kushina was to be giving birth. Find him and eliminate him, but he careful…he is extremely dangerous. Minato, we need to close the seal."

"I know, I'm already doing so. It helps that the Kyuubi isn't resisting anymore though" said Minato.

Before he knew it, he felt a presense behind him. Minato took one of his kunai and swung at the masked man, who had suddenly appeared behind him. The knife passed through the man as if he were a ghost. As soon as the knife passed through, the man grabbed Minato by the shoulder and tried to suck him into that vortex thing. But Minato was able to flash away again, taking the masked man with him. They appeared outside the Namikaze estate as the two foes starred at each other.

"I won't let you get away next time. And once I have you, I'll go and claim the Kyuubi and use it to destroy Konoha" declared the man.

Minato looked at the man, thinking. This man could use space-time jutsu too and was obviously very powerful if he could slip through the barrier like he did. Perhaps the Kyuubi was right. "Are you…Uchiha Madara?" asked Minato. The man lowered his hood, revealing short, spiky black hair, kind of resembling Madara's hair if it were shorter. "No…you can't be…he's dead."

"Well, who knows. I guess you could say I'm more of a chost of my former self" said 'Madara'.

"Well, it's not important who you are…but why do you want the Kyuubi? And why do you want to attack Konoha?" asked Minato.

"Well, I guess you could say…it's both a whim and a plan…for both war and peace" said 'Madara'.

"I doesn't matter who he is. I can't let him get Kushina. I'll have to stop him here" said Minato as the two charged at each other. Minato lunged forward with his knife, passing through the man and finding himself caught in the man's chain. Before 'Madara' could pull tight and dice Minato, he flashed again to safety.

Minato analyzed the situation quickly. The masked man was ethereal except for the very moment he attacked. It would all come down to whose attack was a split second faster. Minato and the masked man charged each other again with Minato throwing his Hiraishin kunai at the man's head. The knife passed through and Minato charged up a Rasengan.

The masked man reached out to grab Minato. "Victory is mi…?!" Minato had flashed once again, this time to the knife that was just above the masked man's back.

"Rasengan!" Minato shouted as he drove the Ransegan into the masked man's back, slamming him into the ground before he could become ethereal again.

Minato had backed away as the masked man struggled to his feet. Minato flashed again, appearing right before the masked man, driving a kunai into the man's gut. The man stumbled back as his arm seemingly melted from him. "No wonder you're the Yondaime Hokage. I'm impressed you were able to best me this time, but…I am the ruler of the world…I have many means at my disposal" declared the man. For some reason, Minato could tell the man wasn't lying.

* * *

Naruto had opened his eyes once again, afraid that he would be sitting on an alter with his father preparing the Shiki Fuin. But he wasn't. He was in that old lady Biwoko's arms as Sarutobi was trying to keep Kushina's seal under control. _"I guess if she's Jiji's wife, then I've got another person to call Baachan besides Tsunade-baachan"_ thought Naruto.

Sarutobi had to admit it was easy to keep the seal stable while the Kyuubi was not resisting. Even he was curious as the why the Kyuubi wasn't trying to break free, but he wasn't complaining. Unfortunately, the only person who could close the seal was Minato, and he was who knows where right now…at least, until a yellow flash was seen in the middle of the office.

"Minato…is everything alright?" asked Sarutobi.

"That masked man got away. I fought him and injured him severely. I don't think we are going to have to worry about him for awhile, but I fear what the future may hold" said Minato.

"So does that mean you think he will return?" asked Hiruzen.

"No. I know he'll be back" said Minato. Suddenly, he heard crying over from the Hokage's desk. Minato rushed over to pick up Naruto. "Hello Naruto, it's nice to finally meet you. I'm your father…Minato." Minato smiled. He had successfully managed to defend his new family.

Naruto stopped crying the moment he heard his father's calm and cheerful voice. He opened his eyes and looked into his father's cerulean eyes with his own cerulean eyes. It wasn't a dream. His parents were truly saved and he wasn't having a giant red fox sealed in him right now.

"Minato, the seal!" said Sarutobi.

"Oh, sorry" grinned Minato, putting his hand behind his head as he handed Naruto off to Biwoko. Minato worked quickly to secure the seal on Kushina. The danger had passed, but there were still some confusing questions that had to be answered; like why did the Kyuubi warn them and how did he know that man was coming?

Minato let out a breath of relief before taking Kushina and Naruto away to the hospital in a flash of yellow.

Minutes later, Naruto found himself in what he thought was heaven. Perhaps Madara had killed him. Perhaps Madara had won the war. Right now, he didn't care what it was. For the first time he would remember, he was physically snuggling in his mother's arms. This truly was a new beginning. He would save his friends, he would keep his family safe, but for now, he would just enjoy the time he had with his mom and dad. _"You know, I think I might actually like this. Although, now that I think of it, I kind of wish I had the old Furball inside of me. I can't talk yet and it's going to be a lonely few months until I actually can. And speaking of which, I'd better work on walking and potty training. The shorter I have to put up with diapers, the better."_

"_**Well surprisingly that worked out"**_ thought Kurama from inside Kushina. _**"You know, perhaps I should have gone back to when I was about to be sealed inside the Kit. I'm sure I could have found some way to keep his parents alive and I wouldn't have to deal with these damn stakes stuck in me! I can't believe I'd rather be in that damp sewer again."**_

* * *

Kushina and Naruto were held in the hospital for the next two days, as was normal so that the doctors could make sure that both the mother and child were healthy. The check-ups the next few days revealed Naruto to be completely healthy, although the doctors were surprised by the newborn having unusually large chakra reserves. First, there were some fluctuations with his chakra as the amount he had tried to adjust itself to the small body it was contained in, but his chakra levels later stabilized.

Upon hearing this, Naruto was happy to know that he would still have his large reserves. It made sense that he had them; after all, chakra is half physical and half spiritual with the spiritual part being comprised mainly of memories and experiences, which Naruto had brought back with him through the trip through time.

* * *

The two days passed and they were discharged from the hospital. The previous day, Minato had made his marriage to Kushina public, which was originally a secret that they kept until Naruto was born. Of course, anyone who knew Minato and Kushina well enough knew they had been married for some time.

They had arrived at the Namikaze estate, located a few blocks away from the Hokage tower. The house, while it wasn't a mansion, was rather large for only two (now three) people, but that was because Minato kept a rather large study. Out back, there was a large yard that was used as a private training facility by both Kushina and Minato (and soon Naruto). "Welcome home, Naruto" called out Kushina and Minato in unison. Naruto looked around at the house and he still couldn't believe it. He truly was back. This truly was the beginning of a new life for him. He would rewrite the past so that none of his future would ever have to happen.

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Author Note

Alright, so another shorter chapter. As you can see, both Kushina and Minato made it out alive and 'Madara' never succeeded in kidnapping Kushina. And for those of you wondering, no Naruto is not a jinchuriki now.

Regarding Naruto, he does have his large reserves due to the fact that he brought back his spiritual part through time. So basically, he has about half the chakra as he did in Shippuden in him right now. Also, I am keeping his whisker marks as he did in fact have them when he was born, not when the Kyuubi was sealed inside him. I think they are a result of his mother being a jinchuriki. As for the jinchuriki part, I am not sure what I am going to do about that. One thought is that once Naruto tells his parents the truth about him coming from the future, he will make a request to have Kurama transferred into him, while still leaving some of the chakra in his mother so that she doesn't die (Basically, split Kurama's chakra into Yin and Yang. Giving Naruto the Yang and Kushina the Yin energy). Or perhaps Naruto will just live his new life without the big Furball inside him.

As for Naruto's healing abilities, he will realize that it is a blood limit that he got from his father, not the Kyuubi (I give credit to Hektols, author of New Chance for this idea). The Kyuubi chakra just enhances the already enhanced healing process. If you want Hektols' reasoning behind it, go to his story New Chance and go to the very bottom of chapter 8.

The next chapter will be the first two to three years of Naruto's life (basically him trying to regain his abilities to walk, talk, and eat ramen) with the Hyugas and Sasuke making an appearance in the next few chapters.

Hope you enjoyed. Please review/comment.

One last thing, does anyone know a free program or website I could use to translate jutsu names from English to Japanese? (at least for jutsu that I come up with, not ones that have already been invented)


	3. Chapter 3: First Words, Steps, and Ramen

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

**Chapter 3: First Words, First steps, and First Ramen**

Minato sighed. "Why did I even take this job again?" he asked no one in particular, except maybe the baby next to him. Two months had passed since that day, the day Naruto traveled back to the past and the day he saved his parents. Naruto was in the Hokage's office while his dad was working on the mountain of paperwork that was sitting on his desk, a lot of it doing with Kumogakure.

Konohagakure and Kumogakure were no longer at war any more, the war between them having ended around a year ago. However, that didn't mean that tensions were high between the two shinobi villages.

The Third Shinobi World War was coming to a close with Iwagakure pulling out of any military advances, mainly due to the actions of a particular blonde Leaf ninja, and rumors were circulating around the nations that Kirigakure was planning on doing the same. This is usually how wars on the scale of Shinobi World Wars ended, very anticlimactic. At the beginning, there was much anxiety amongst all nations with every nation dispatching their shinobi with the hopes of conquering one of the villages. However, as time passed, villages would cut back on the amount of offensive assaults they would carry out and switch to a more defensive position. This was due to many possible reasons. One, a village was beginning to lose numbers as casualties of war increased. This was the case with Iwa's change in tactics. Second, a village could find themselves under heavy assault and they could not afford to send their resources out on offensive endeavors. This was also another reason why Iwa began to pull out. Third, was internal struggle. This was the reason Kiri pulled out of the war as they were now in the middle of a civil war that looked like it was going to be long and bloody. The final reason was that a country began to lose sight in to why they were at war or their main objective was complete. This was Konoha's case. At the beginning of the war, Konoha's main enemy was Iwa, who was practically defeated at the time. With Iwa defeated, Konoha had no real reason to continue a war, but other nations did. One such nation was Kumo.

Kumo had been regarded as war-loving due to the habit they had of either starting wars or joining wars in which they had no business in with the hopes of earning some sort of spoil, whether it be money, support, or a new bloodline. Konoha was no longer officially at war with anyone, but there were still a few aggressive actions from Kumo every now and then, resulting in a pile up of paper work for the young Hokage.

Naruto was sitting in a cradle-like seat simply doing…well not much really. This was the one thing about being a baby that Naruto really hated. He couldn't talk because his vocal chords weren't developed, he couldn't walk or crawl because his legs and arms weren't developed, and worst of all…he couldn't eat ramen because he had no teeth. All he could really do was enjoy the company of his parents, which considering he lived for 17 years without them, really wasn't a bad thing.

A few minutes passed and the secretary came into Minato's office. "Sir, there have been reports of 'disturbances' around the bathing district" said the secretary before handing Minato the report and leaving the office.

"_Looks like Ero-Sennin's back in town" _thought Naruto. He couldn't wait to see that over grown pervert again. The last time he had seen him was just before Jiraiya left to go to Amegakure, his final mission before dying at the hands of Pein…that got Naruto thinking.

The memories of returning to find out Jiraiya had died came back to him and they hurt. He had been devastated, only to be helped back up by Shikamaru and Iruka-sensei. Speaking of those two, he was wondering when he would eventually see them. He couldn't wait to see all his old friends again, and now because he wasn't some 'Demon Brat' anymore, perhaps the parents of Konoha would be nice to him.

One other thought came to mind. Had Pein been created yet? Or were Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko still alive and well. If he was correct, the time it currently was should have indicated that Hanzo wouldn't double cross them for at least another 8 or 9 years, which meant he still had time. If he could save Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko, that would go a long way towards stopping the future. Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything about it now.

"Well, well. Looks like a certain pervert is back in town. I think I'm going to go greet your sensei" said Kushina as she entered the room, hearing the report. Minato cringed at the thought of Kushina dealing with Jiraiya. She was almost as bad as Tsunade when it came to beating the peeping perv.

"So what do you think Naruto, you ready to meet your godfather?" asked Minato, going over to Naruto's cradle.

"QUIT PEEPING YOU PERV!" was heard all over the village, followed by a 'thwack' and then the sound of crashing boards as Jiraiya came sailing into Minato's office with a bruised and bloody face.

"Hey, there he is. There's my godson" said Jiraiya. He managed to recover himself and began dancing around with the little bundle of joy in his hands.

"Umm sensei…that's a pot" commented Minato. Jiraiya shook his head, still dazed from the blow and proceeded to the real Naruto.

"Hey! There's my little godson. It's your uncle Jiraiya." Naruto looked at the old man with an expression that was mixed with longing, sadness, and a little bit of 'who the hell is this creeper'.

"Kushi-chan, I think you over did it that time" commented Minato to Kushina, who had just stepped back into the office.

"Nonsense, he had what was coming to him for peeping" replied Kushina.

"I wasn't peeping. I was researching for my next book" Jiraiya defended.

"Well that still doesn't mean you can go around peeping into hot springs" said Kushina.

"What I was doing was perfectly fine. Isn't that right, Naruto?" said Jiraiya, pinching the 2-month old's cheeks. Naruto smiled. "See, Naruto agrees with me."

Now, Naruto couldn't walk, or talk, or call the perverted sage what he really was. But, there was something he could do that, being a baby, he could easily get away with.

"Blegh!"

"Hahahahahaha!" Kushina found herself rolling on the floor laughing, unable to breath as Jiraiya paled, giving Naruto one of those 'you're kidding me, right?' looks. Baby Naruto looked at Jiraiya with a big grin on his face, who handed the kid to Minato before going to wash the baby vomit off his shirt.

A few minutes later, Jiraiya returned. "I'm watching you, brat" he said, staring at Naruto, who was looking innocently at Jiraiya. "Fine, if bribing you is what it takes, then here." Jiriaya handed Naruto a stuffed frog, which Naruto immediately began playing with.

"It's good you're back Sensei" said Minato as everyone in the office regained themselves.

"Well, I had to stop back eventually to see the kid" said Jiriaya. "Anyways, have you made any progress on what happened that night, especially between Kushina and Furball?"

"Sadly no. I don't know how exactly to explain it. First he was trying his hardest to get out and then he instantly calms down. Next think I know, I'm in my mindscape and he's warning me about some guy named Uchiha Madara and that I'm in danger. A few seconds later, 'm forced out of my mind and there is the same man I was warned about, going for Naruto. I don't know. If the Kyuubi hadn't warned me, then who knows what would have happened" said Kushina.

"_I know, and you wouldn't like it" _replied Naruto to himself.

"Still I've tried to talk to him on that, but he's gone right back to being the insensitive jerk he was before. I can't even go five seconds of talking to him without him insulting me or something" said Kushina.

"_What are you doing? I thought you changed" _thought Naruto.

"_**I'll stop insulting you when you get this damn stake out of my chest…hehe, it's actually kind of fun to act like an arrogant bastard again"**_ laughed the Kyuubi to himself. It was true, he'd insult her, she'd get flustered, and he'd laugh when she left. He would reveal the truth when and if Naruto ever revealed his own truth.

* * *

About another three months had passed and Naruto was really beginning to get tired of the baby stuff at this point. He was still considered immobile at this point despite all of his efforts to even try and crawl. If there was one thing about being a baby that he hated, it was the stinking diapers…literally. He figured once he got to the point where he could walk, then he wouldn't need diapers as he'd be able to use the toilet. The next time he traveled back in time he was coming back to a point where he could walk.

However, there was one thing that he had noticed about himself. The other day, while minding his own business, he noticed something hard and boney coming out of his bottom gum. It was a tooth. When his mom realized that, she pretty much flipped with excitement. This only meant one thing, his life was about to get a whole lot better…that's right, it was time for ramen.

Fortunately for him, Minato and Kushina had gone to Ichiraku for lunch and they had brought him with them. The first thing he noticed was that Old Man Teuchi really wasn't THAT old and that there was a little girl, probably about 5 years old, standing behind the counter watching at what Teuchi was doing.

"_Wait, that can't be Ayame-chan, can it?"_ thought Naruto. In fact, it was. Apparently her dad had brought her into work that day. And so began the start of his favorite father-daughter-run ramen stand.

Finally, the moment Naruto had been waiting for. After what seemed like too much talking between Teuchi and his parents, the ramen came. Fortunately for him, he was sitting in his mother's lap and was actually within reach of the bowl of ramen. Unfortunately, before he could even get his hands on a noodle, the entire bowl was gone, replaced by an empty bowl. Kushina had practically downed the entire bowl and was already in the process of ordering another one. He looked over at his dad, who was eating his ramen much slower, but enjoying it none the less. Apparently, both of his parents were ramen lovers with Minato being the savor-it type and Kushina…well, let's just say he knew what side of the family his ramen-eating habits came from.

On the tenth bowl, Naruto's opportunity came as Minato managed to distract Kushina long enough for him to make another go at the bowl. Minato saw this, but Kushina didn't as she went for the bowl, taking it from in front of a now disappointed Naruto. "Aww, did the big mean Red Habanaro take your ramen?" asked Minato in a sort of googly tone. Kushina scowled at this as Minato took Naruto from her lap and put him on his own.

"_Thank Kami, dad to the rescue. Well, I guess that answers THAT dilemma"_ thought Naruto. Minato took some noodles from his second bowl, cooling them a little before feeding them to an ever joyful Naruto, who happily slurped up the noodles. Letting out a little burp, everyone at the stand either laughed or was going 'awww'.

"Looks like the love of ramen runs in the family" commented Teuchi.

"Dada" said Naruto as everyone's attention turned to the little blonde. Naruto had just said his first words (at least in this time).

"Naruto? What did you just say?" asked a Hokage who was in complete disbelief.

"Dada…dada" said Naruto again. Minato was filled with joy that he was his son's first words.

"Haha, my son just said his first word!" shouted the Hokage. Kushina sent him a glare, angry that she wasn't the subject of her son's first words. "Looks like I win." Apparently, Minato and Kushina had been having a little competition as to who's name Naruto would say first. Naruto knew about this, being able to understand them since he was born and he had been able to actually talk for a few weeks, but he figured he'd wait and see which parent passed his test.

"It's only because you gave him ramen" scoffed Kushina, causing Minato to grin even bigger. She turned away from then, crossing her arms and pouting a little.

"_You can't underestimate the power of ramen" _thought Naruto.

Naruto turned to his pouting mother and used the Puppy Dog Eyes no Jutsu, the only jutsu he was able to use at this point in time. "Ma-ma?" he called out.

Kushina fell for it, turning her head to look into his bright blue puppy dog eyes. "Kawai!" she screamed out. "I could never stay mad at you my little Naruto-kun" Kushina said as she swiped Naruto from Minato's arms and proceeded to squeeze him.

For Naruto, he was finally able to talk, even if just a little, and he was now eating ramen again. All that was really left was walking. Once he was able to do that, it would only be a matter of time.

* * *

Eleven months had passed since he was born…again. He couldn't believe how difficult it was to walk. He had been spending the past ten months trying o get himself to be able to walk. If there was anything he wanted right now, it was the ability to walk…even more so than ramen.

Speaking of ramen, he could smell the aroma of cooking ramen coming from the kitchen, meaning he knew what was for dinner. The first time he had his mother's home cooked ramen, he couldn't believe it. There was actually ramen better than Ichiraku and it was his mom's own home-made ramen. Screw walking, he wanted ramen now. Ne began to crawl towards the kitchen. On the bright side, he had learned how to crawl a couple of weeks ago and was at least somewhat mobile.

He made his way to the threshold between the family room and the kitchen and the aroma began to intensify. His mom was in there, making ramen. Unbeknownst to him, Naruto slowly made his way to his feet as he stumbled forward towards the pot of heavenly goodness, bumping into the table on his way in.

This caught Kushina's attention and she turned around to see who was there. Looking down, she saw Naruto, walking on his own. Not thinking at all, she scooped the child and began squeezing the life out of him as she jumped for joy. A few moments later, she realized what was happening and released her grip on her son. "My baby, I can't believe you just took your first steps" she cried out.

"_Huh? I can walk? Yay I can walk! Finally, no more stinkin diapers!" _declared Naruto. "Mommy, ramen?" he asked out in a cute voice.

"Aww, how can I say no to that. But not too much or you'll spoil your dinner" she said, taking a small bowl of ramen from the pot on the stove.

Mid slurp, there was a flash in the middle of the kitchen, indicating that Minato had just come home. Giving his redheaded wife a quick kiss, his attention was drawn towards to standing mini-Minato slurping down a small bowl of ramen. "Did he…" asked Minato. Kushina only smiled and nodded and Minato let out a joyful laugh. "My son just took his first steps!"

* * *

It was October 10th, now a year since Naruto's return to the past. Naruto had never enjoyed his birthday, no one to celebrate it with, drunken villagers chasing him around with knives, bats, and whatever they could find, and him sitting alone wondering why his life had turned out like it had. However, for once this birthday would be different. There would be no Kyuubi festival, no drunken villagers chasing him around, and he would have family that would actually celebrate his birthday.

Seeing as he was still considered a baby, Minato and Kushina decided to keep the celebrations small and amongst themselves. Naruto could have the parties when he was actually old enough to enjoy them. Kushina had basically invited only themselves, Jiriaya, and the Sandaime and his wife, who Naruto had referred earlier on as Jiji. However, earlier in the day, he caught a glimpse of something that nearly made him cry for the first time since the day he was born…Sasuke. Uchiha Mikoto, a good friend of Kushina's had stopped by earlier to wish Naruto a happy birthday and she was carrying a year-old Sasuke with her. This Sasuke wasn't the same Sasuke that had left the village, nearly tried to kill him, or join Madara in the Fourth Shinobi War. No, this was a Sasuke that could still be saved, one that was still innocent.

Naruto figured he had about 8 years until the Uchiha Incident, if it even occurred at all. Naruto knew the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre. The Uchiha clan had planned to revolt against the village due to the suspicions that were mounting on them as a result of the Kyuubi attack. However, there was no Kyuubi attack. Did that mean that the Uchiha clan wouldn't revolt? Would there even be an Uchiha massacre? Naruto wasn't really sure about this, but he figured that he would play it safe and keep an eye out when the time got near. But for now, he had a birthday to enjoy. The first one in 18 years.

The Sarutobis arrived first. Minato and Kushina invited them as it appeared that Naruto had identified them practically as his grandparents, which the Sandaime was pretty much a grandfather figure to him in the previous timeline. Jiraiya arrived almost an hour later, bearing a huge red imprint of a hand on the side of the face. It wasn't hard to guess what he had been up to.

About two hours after their little party started, a 15-year old version of Kakashi had finally shown up. Even in this timeline, he was still as late as ever. Naruto had been introduced to Kakashi a few months ago, when he finally returned home from an extended mission. Since then, he had seen his past sensei only once or twice, figuring Kakashi had been busy or something. He wondered if he would still get Kakashi as a sensei in this time. If he did, then Kakashi was in for a few surprises during the genin test.

Now that everyone was finally there, Kushina brought out the thing Naruto was really waiting for…the special ramen. This was the same ramen that he had the day he finally learned to walk. He had been wondering why his mom didn't make it more, considering how good it was. He learned that there were a few ingredients in her recipe that were rare and very expensive. As such, that ramen she made was only for special occasions.

For presents, well he couldn't believe that he was actually getting presents for his birthday. Even if they were typical presents for a one year old, they were gifts none the less.

Unfortunately, the night nearly ended in disaster with Naruto almost taking a topple down the stairs. Curse the clumsiness that he still had in this body. Minato managed to catch him, but not before Naruto had fallen down a few steps already, resulting in a few bruises and cuts. Pretty much everyone had expected Naruto to cry, as a normal one-year old had done, but to everyone's surprise, he just gritted with the pain.

"That's a pretty tough boy you've got there" said Jiraiya. "Falls down the steps and doesn't cry."

"It's strange that you should mention that. Kushina and I were expecting a hassle during the first year of raising a child. You know, being woken in the middle of the night by a crying baby, five times over" said Minato. Sarutobi and Biwoko nodded, knowing what parenthood of a baby was like. "But, for some reason, I've never heard him cry…not since the day he was born. If he wants something, he either says so or at least he used to make some sort of noise, but he never really cried."

"_Well, I never cried for something has never gotten me anything" _thought Naruto. That was true, during his first childhood, crying never gave him any attention and eventually he stopped crying. The only time when he would cry was when he lost someone precious to him. But that crying was because of emotions, not because he wanted something.

Kushina was trying to nurse the few scrapes on Naruto's arms, when said scrapes caught everyone's attention. "Hey Minato, well look at that" said Jiraiya, pointing to the scrapes on Naruto's arm. "Looks like he has Kushina's bloodline."

"_Bloodline?"_ thought a surprised Naruto.

"I didn't know you had a bloodline, Kushina-sensei" said Kakashi.

"Well, I tend to keep it a secret so don't tell anyone" said Kushina. Everyone nodded. "My clan, besides their renown skills in kenjutsu and fuinjutsu were also known for their incredible vitality and longevity. We also have a bloodline that went along with it. Basically we could heal any non-fatal wound in just a fraction of the time that it would normally heal. For example, a broken bone would heal in hours and cuts would be healed in seconds to minutes."

"_Wait? Does that mean my healing was a bloodline? Not the Kyuubi?"_ thought Naruto. _"Wow! This is cool! Even without the Kyuubi I still won't have to put up with hospital food!"_

"_**I know what your thinking Naruto, and no I did not heal you except for when that bastard friend of yours put a hole through your chest" **_thought Kurama.

"It also means I'm not affected by most poisons and diseases" said Kushina. She then shot a glare at Jiraiya. "Although, the bloodline is one secret we try to keep secret. Can you imagine what other villages and clans would do if they figured out?"

"Sorry, it left me for a moment when I realized your brat had it as well" said Jiraiya.

"Hey! He's not a brat!" objected Kushina.

"He was the moment he threw up on me in your office" said Jiraiya. Kushina and Naruto laughed at the memory.

Naruto still couldn't believe it. He had a bloodline. After all the bragging amongst other shinobi he met in the previous timeline about them having a bloodline, he couldn't believe his luck.

* * *

It was a little over two years now since that fateful night. Naruto had finally gotten his motor control to a point where he could actually begin training a little. Unfortunately for him, his chakra control in this new body was even worse than he ever had, partially due to his age and still rapidly developing body. His speech was at the point where he could put together coherent sentences and no longer had to use a combination between baby-talk and English (yes I know. For this purpose, they speak English for the most part).

Naruto was outside, behind the Namikaze estate, trying to do the leaf concentration exercise at an attempt of getting some form of chakra control so that he could see which jutsu he could still do.

"Naruto…you out here?" called out Minato. He caught Naruto trying to do the leaf concentration exercise. _"Is that Naruto? And why is he doing that? I might have mentioned chakra to him once or twice, but I never showed him how to control it. After all, most parents haven't even thought about their kid being ninja yet."_

Naruto heard this and his concentration broke, startled and afraid he might have been caught. "Naruto, what are you doing?"

"Dad, you see I was just seeing if I stick this leaf to my head" said Naruto. He was busy trying to come up with some sort of lie, but it needed to have some element of truth to it.

"I see, but where did you learn about that. Your mother and I may have mentioned chakra to you, but no one's told you how to use it yet" said Minato.

"Well, I kind of overheard one of the teachers at the academy talk about this the other day when you took me there. They said something like concentrate on the leaf to work on something they called chaka control?"

"You mean _chakra_ control?" asked Minato.

"Yeah, that's it!" exclaimed Naruto. So far his dad was buying it.

"Okay, but just know dinner will be ready soon" said Minato, walking off and leaving Naruto to his business. _"Chakra control already?"_

"I was about that age when my dad started working with me" said Kakashi hopping down from a tree.

"Kakashi, don't you have a mission you should have left for two hours ago?" asked Minato.

"Hehe, I'm heading there right now sensei" said Kakashi as he took off.

"_Hmm. Maybe. I wanted him to just be a kid a bit longer before I began teaching him about being a shinobi, but perhaps it is about time Kushi-chan and I start working on him" _thought Minato.

The following day, Minato took Naruto into the back of the estate and told Naruto that he would begin training him to some extent if that was what Naruto wanted. But first he asked Naruto a question. "Now, I want to know why you want to start on stuff like chakra control already, son?"

Naruto already knew an answer that he could give. It had been the answer he had always given if someone asked him why he wanted to become a ninja. "Because, I want to be just like you tou-san. I want to be Hokage! –ttebayo" declared Naruto.

"-ttebayo? Oh dear, you're mother's not going to be happy" said Minato. Naruto looked at him confused and asked why. "Because, she has that same verbal tick and was hoping you wouldn't pick up on it." Naruto just grinned at this. "Anyways, so you want to be just like me, huh?"

"Yeah! I want to be just like you dad! A strong and powerful ninja who looks after the whole village!" said Naruto, trying his best to give an answer a two-year-old would give. Minato chuckled a little. And so, Minato and Kushina began working on their son's goal to become a strong ninja…and perhaps the next person to take over Minato's position.

Months passed and Naruto was finally getting in some training. It wasn't a lot as his parents still wanted him to enjoy his time as a kid and even he couldn't really complain about that, but it was enough to help him get his chakra control back to the point where he could perform at least a decent henge, although his parents didn't know that because he had worked on that in private.

* * *

About two months after his third birthday, a visitor stopped by the Namikaze estate. It was a tall man with long brown hair and pale eyes. If you didn't know better, you would say this man was blind. Standing next to him, holding onto his robes was a rather small girl with the same pale eyes and lavender hair.

"Hiashi-san, what can I do for you today?" asked Minato, greeting the guest.

"Minato-sama, Kushina-sama good day. I just stopped by to invite you to Hinata's third birthday party that will be coming up in a few weeks" said Hiashi, handing Minato the invitation.

Minato took a look at the date on the invitation. "I'm sorry Hiashi, but I don't think I personally will be able to make it. You are aware that is the day the Kumo delegation is coming to sign the Non-Agression Treaty and I don't know if I will have time. Sadly that day is one of those days where my duty as Hokage comes before my duty as a father. However, I will stop over if I can and I'm sure Kushina wouldn't mind bringing Naruto over" said Minato as Kushina smiled and nodded. Kushina and Hotaru, Hiashi's wife and Hinata's mother, were good friends and she would have no problem taking Naruto that day.

It was at this time that Naruto had walked into the family room of the house, stopping dead in his tracks.

*Flashback*

Naruto could feel Pein's chakra inside him, coming in through those rod-things that he had pierced him with. "It's time for us to go, Kyuubi…" said Pein.

Before he could take Naruto away, someone came rushing to his rescue…someone Naruto had not expected.

"I won't let you lay another finger on Naruto!" the newcomer declared.

"What are you doing?! Get out of here! You're no match…" shouted Naruto before he was interrupted.

"I know. I'm just being selfish…" the newcomer said.

"What are you talking about?! What're you doing here? It's dangerous!" shouted Naruto.

"I'm here of my own free will. I used to always cry and give up…I nearly went the wrong way. But you…you showed me the right way. I was always chasing you, wanting to overtake you. I just wanted to walk with you, I wanted to be with you. You changed me! Your smile saved me! So I'm not afraid to die protecting you. Because…I love you!"

*End Flashback*

"Hinata…" said Naruto softly. Until then, he had never heard anyone say it. She was the first person who openly said that they loved him. The time when Sakura confessed to him as well in the Land of Iron, it was honestly that moment, those words from Hinata that had stopped Naruto from accepting Sakura's confession. Despite everything, Hinata really did love him and for many years too.

"_But this time is different. Would she still like me? Would she still fall in love with me?"_ thought Naruto to himself. Unfortunately, only time would tell.

* * *

Author Notes

Alright, so there is the next chapter. It is closer in length to how I like writing my chapters (between 5k and 8k words/chapter). Hope you enjoyed.

I decided to start it off by describing the current status of the world. If I am correct, the Third Shinobi World War is still technically going on, but in its waning years. There is not much more action in the war with the exception of a few provocative actions and a few occasional clashes.

I know it started off kind of slow with Naruto not being able to do much; after all, he is still a baby. Even though he may have the mind of a 16/17-year old, the body is still that of a baby/toddler. Most of the first three years of his life was basically spent simply enjoying the time he had with his family and him trying to figure out and strengthen his developing body to the point where he could actually begin to work on a few things.

As for starting Naruto's training when he is just a little older than two, again it is nothing serious (just some basic chakra exercises and physical exercises, but something to get him started). I also would not be surprised if the more prestigious clans (like the Uchiha and the Hyuga) started their children off at a pretty early age (4-5yrs). Again, the difference between most 2-3 year olds and Naruto in this story is that Naruto came from the future and knew how to do a lot of the stuff most kids would have to learn. For him, it was mainly just a waiting game and getting adjusted to a younger body. Also, I think Kakashi graduated from the academy at age 5, so he had to have started working on shinobi training at a very young age as well.

I did try to make the development of Naruto somewhat reasonable and I also tried to add some humorous elements into the mix. Near the end, I introduced Sasuke and Hinata. Hinata will appear in the next chapter while Sasuke won't appear for another chapter or two afterwards. The next couple chapters will cover years 3-6/7 (up until the point where he enters the academy). After I reach that point, I will unfortunately slow down on the rate at which I post chapter due to a lot of stuff that will be happening during the academy years. There will also be a nice surprise for Naruto coming in the next chapter.


	4. Chapter 4: Hyugas

Hey everyone, I'm surprised at the reception my last chapter received. It's only been up for a few days at most and already the number of reviews and favorites has taken a huge increase. So far, it seems like there has been a positive reception to this story and I thank all of you for supporting my work. However, a few of the comments I read show that I might have confused a few people so I am going to try and clarify a few of those concerns right here.

1- I did mention that this would be a NaruHina story. However, this pairing will not start for some time (at least not until they have been genin for a few years). With Naruto, he has brought back any feelings he may have developed for Hinata in the previous timeline, but now he is not sure how things will turn out in this timeline. Naruto is not one to force someone to do something, like fall in love with him. As a matter of fact, I won't be bringing Hinata into the story again for some time after this chapter (at least not until later in the academy), though she may make a small appearance occasionally. I am also aware I will have to develop the relationship between the two differently because Naruto does not have the hard life like he did before.

In a way, he is still unsure about his feelings towards Hinata and Sakura and as he said, only time would tell. This is not something that will happen in the next few chapters, this is something that will happen a long time down the road.

2- Naruto's development. I am trying my best to limit his physical development to a more realistic sense. He will advance faster than a normal child because his mind doesn't need to develop as well, but it will be his physical development that limits him. At this point in time, he can do a basic henge (transformation) but that will be it for awhile. The basic henge is one of the simpler jutus and does not require that high of a development of the chakra system to perform.

3- Fan girls. Yes, Naruto will have fan girls. In fact, the fan girls will be used as a tool to strengthen his bond with Sasuke

4- Sasuke. Probably the main thing Naruto will be working on the next few years of his life is building a strong bond with Sasuke, one that Sasuke will not be able to break. If there is one thing about the past that Naruto wants to change, it's this. Sasuke will be truly introduced in the next few chapters and, for the lack of a better term, he will have a lot of screen time as he and Naruto become close friends.

5- Kurama. Yes I know the seal he is in right now seems kind of cruel. After everything he's done, he has a stake in his chest and tails. However, that is just the way Kushina's seal is. This won't change, sadly, until Naruto reveals the truth to his parents (and yes, that moment will come eventually). I am still debating as to whether or not Naruto will have Kurama transferred into him.

6- While Naruto is not a jinchuriki any more he still knows the pains of being one and being alone. Also, the fact that Naruto is the son of the Hokage will not be going to his head. He will remain rather humble in that respect, but he will revive some of his childish behaviour as well.

So, without any more to say for now, here is the next chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Hyugas**

Naruto and Kushina were walking along the street on their way to the Hyuga compound where they had been asked to come and celebrate the third birthday of the clan heir, Hinata. Unfortunately Minato couldn't join them as he had Hokage business to deal with today. Today was the day that Kumo was coming to sign a non-aggression treaty with Konoha, effectively ending the Third Shinobi World War. All the time while walking to the Hyuga's, Naruto was thinking. Something happened today, something important that affected one of his friends in the previous timeline, but he couldn't remember what it was.

Naruto couldn't help but notice the people walking through the village. In his past timeline, they would send him glares of hatred and annoyance, but this time…none of that. Most of the villages turned their heads his way and either smiled at him, waved at him, and even a few greeted him warmly. He had earned his respect near the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War, but he had saved the entire village in that timeline. He hadn't done anything yet, at least that no one knows of, in this timeline and it wasn't that he didn't like it, it was just kind of weird to him.

Naruto and Kushina arrived at the Hyuga compound and noticed that the majority of the guests were Hyugas themselves. There were some other people there, but Naruto realized that they had to be important civilians or something along those lines as he couldn't recognize any of them. However, he soon realized that the majority of the people there had a similar brown color to their hair, with the exception of his bright blonde hair, his mother's red hair, and another woman's lavender colored hair. That woman with the lavender hair must have been Hinata's mother as he could not remember anyone else in the village or the Hyuga clan having that hair color, besides Hinata herelf.

Kushina left Naruto in the company of a few other boys around his age, hoping they would become acquainted while she went off to talk to the lavender-haired woman. _"Yep, must be Hinata's mother if my mom and her are such good friends"_ thought Naruto. He turned to face another boy, around his age.

"Hello" the boy said bowing to Naruto. Now things were really getting weird. Someone was actually bowing to him. The boy was obviously Hyuga, possessing the pale eyes that indicated the presence of the Byakugan. He had longer hair that went down to his shoulder blades. His facial expression was kind yet had a slight hint of arrogance that Naruto somehow was familiar with. "It's pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm Neji Hyuga."

"_Neji!"_ it came back to Naruto instantly. This was Neji.

*Flashback*

Naruto was standing in the middle of the arena facing Neji. It was the first match of the chunin exam finals…the Genius of the Hyuga clan vs. the Failure. Naruto had just been thrown back when Neji unleashed his Kaiten, a main family jutsu that he had been able to reverse engineer. The next thing he knew was getting hit by another of Neji's reverse engineered moves, the Hakke Rokujuyon Sho.

"I have hit 64 of your tenketsu, you can no longer stand. Stay on your knees before a power that you cannot change and realize your worthlessness. Having your dreams come true through hard work…is an illusion" scoffed Neji.

Naruto struggled, unable to move his body, as he rose to his feet, shocking most people in the stands, and especially Neji. "You should just give up. I have no grudge against you."

"Well I do! Why? Why if you're so strong did you attack Hinata like that, who was trying so hard? Automatically deciding she's a loser? I don't know what the hell happened, but pieces of shit like you who call other people losers…I will never forgive!" declared Naruto.

…A quick explanation later that Naruto was having trouble remembering…

Naruto had managed to clear his chakra network by tapping into the Kyuubi's chakra and had begun to go on the offensive, surprising everyone present with his sudden increase in power.

An explosion followed their next attack, sending the two fighters into the ground, creating a pair of craters. Neji was the first to emerge, only to be socked in the chin as Naruto exploded from the ground beneath him.

Naruto's last words to Neji in that fight were "Stop whining about stupid crap like destiny. It can't be changed, blah blah. After all, you're not a loser like me."

*End Flashback*

There were parts of that memory that Naruto was having a hard time remembering, but one thing was sure, Neji was no longer the ass he once was after that fight. In fact, Naruto had gained a great deal of respect for Neji after Neji decided to change. But there was something different about this Neji. This Neji wasn't an ass, or at least wasn't acting like one. Something must have happened to Neji between now and the chunin exams; however, he couldn't quite recall.

Still, Naruto couldn't help but laugh a little. Neji had once stated that you have to be born to be a Hokage. Naruto was just trying to think of what Neji's reaction would have been if he knew Naruto's dad was in fact a Hokage at the time of their match.

"Hi Neji, I'm Naruto Namikaze" said Naruto, smiling and extending a friendly hand to Naruto.

About an hour passed and Naruto had been playing with Neji, wait…Neji? Playing? Yep, he would need to get his head checked out after this. Regardless, about half an hour later, all the guests had finally arrived and it was time to get started with the party. Hiashi emerged from the house, holding a small Hinata's hand.

Naruto looked over and could see the girl trying to hide behind her father's robes. Even in this timeline, she was still shy. Everyone gathered to great the clan head and heiress and Hiashi went around introducing everyone.

"Hello Kushina-san" Hiashi had come around to Naruto and his mother.

"Hello Hyuga-san" responded Kushina. "Aww, she's so cute." Kushina was trying her best to resist the urge to start pinching Hinata's cheeks, something Naruto had learned to avoid at any costs.

"I thank you for stopping by and bringing Naruto-kun with you" said Hiashi, looking down at the blonde boy who shared a strong resemblance to the current Hokage.

"It was no problem. I'm sorry my husband couldn't stop by, but sadly Hokage business got in the way" said Kushina.

Naruto turned his attention to the little Hinata across from him. She caught his glance and began blushing a little, which however has not picked up by Naruto as he had his eyes closed while smiling.

The following 'party' really wasn't much of a party, just some sort of gathering where the adults were talking to one another and the kids were playing together. Neji, Naruto, and two other boys were playing together, kicking a ball towards one another. The ball was heading towards Naruto until it instantly disappeared. Naruto looked around in surprise, trying to find where it went, looking up to see his dad behind him holding the ball and smiling. He was then bombarded by a few comments of 'Whoa, your dad's the Hokage?' and stuff like that from the boys he was playing with.

"Ah, Hokage-sama. Pleasure of you to drop by" said Hiashi, coming over to greet Minato.

"I just thought I'd stop by after signing the treaty with Kumo" said Minato.

Naruto could feel something in his mind. Something was supposed to happen today regarding Kumo, but he still couldn't quite put his finger on it. Then it finally caught him. One thing he had finally remembered was that Neji always wore something to cover up his forehead, like some kind of scar…or cursed seal! Now Naruto knew what day it was. Today was the day that Kumo would try and kidnap Hinata, only to fail when Hiashi killed the leader of the Kumo ninja. As a result, Hizashi, Neji's dad, would be sacrificed because he was Hiashi's twin and Neji would be condemned to a lonely childhood, plagued by the curse mark that the main branch had used to kill his father. Of course, Neji would realize that Hizashi had sacrificed himself of his own free will, but still…that was tonight. The questions: Should he intervene? Should he try to save Neji's father? began to echo in his head.

As Naruto left the party, he was still thinking on what to do. He 'went to bed' at around 9:00pm, but really just stayed up thinking. Thinking what he should do. The first thing he was asking was should he interfere? Should he try to save Neji's dad?

Now, this was Naruto and for Naruto, the answer was easy. The reason he had come back in time was to better everything. His own life and his friend's life. To ensure that they would survive and be happy…that was the reason he came back. He knew the pain of not having any parents and he finally remembered that it was the death of Neji's father that had caused the Hyuga genius so much pain. There was no way he could let Neji suffer again. His conscience just wouldn't let him. He would act and he would have to act soon as it was already getting late.

Naruto snuck out of the Namikaze estate, making sure to transform himself as he did so. After all, it would draw too much attention to him if everyone saw the Hokage's son running through the village late at night. He had transformed himself into a teenage ninja with a full black body suit that covered every aspect of his body, except his eyes. He tried to hop up onto the roof, but realized his body wasn't in the shape to be leaping across buildings like ninja yet so he settled to just running along the roads and alleys. He reached the Hyuga compound and used as much effort as he could to station himself in a tree, just outside the compound. He knew this was at least Hinata's house as he remembered her coming out of it during the party. Now all he had to do was wait for the Kumo ninja to come.

Not a few minutes later, a masked ninja, most likely the Kumo ninja, emerged from the house, carrying a blanketed bundle that was most likely Hinata. Naruto wanted to wait to act until they were away from the compound so that he wouldn't draw any attention, but he noticed Hiashi coming out of a door, just around the corner. It would only be a matter of seconds before Hiashi and the kidnapper met one another and Hiashi killed the kidnapper. He had to act now. As Naruto jumped down from the tree, Hiashi turned the corner, noticing someone had kidnapped what looked to be his daughter. However, before he could make a move, a black figure tackled the kidnapper and grabbed the blanketed Hinata before she could fall to the ground. He took a quick look into the bundle, seeing that it was in fact Hinata and that she had been woken by this.

Hinata felt as if she was flying through the air until finally coming to a halt as if someone had caught her. She was somehow wrapped up in a blanket until someone peeled away the blanket revealing a masked ninja with cerulean blue eyes. She had seen these eyes before, but she couldn't remember where. However, she could see that there was a hint of relief along with a hint of sadness in them.

Naruto set the bundled Hinata down and unmasked the kidnapper, revealing it to be the head Kumo ninja. It was also around this time that he saw Hiashi run towards him and he began to make his retreat. Naruto backed off, returning to the top of the walls, but hesitating for a moment. Hiashi had not followed him, which he was grateful for. If Hiashi had not been distracted by his daughter lying on the ground and an unconscious Kumo ninja on Hyuga grounds, he would have most certainly pursued Naruto and Naruto would not have been able to get away, considering he had nearly tripped over that tree branch the moment he decided to make his move. He still wasn't used to using this body and found that he was still rather clumsy, yet it was good enough to tackle (more like fall on top of) the Kumo ninja. He turned around, just long enough to see Hiashi signal to one of the guards to go and get the Hokage. Thankfully, he didn't kill the kidnapper.

"_Good. That went better than expected. Neji, enjoy your life with your father. I promised you in the other time that I would change the clan and I will keep that promise even here. But hopefully, this will help ease some of your suffering" _thought Naruto, before taking off.

Minato was rudely awakened by a knocking on his door and someone shouting 'Hokage-sama'. He gave his wife a quick kiss, before quickly changing into his standard Hokage attire and answering he door. Outside, he saw Hizashi at his door.

* * *

"Hokage-sama, come quickly. An incident has occurred at the Hyuga compound. An attempted kidnapping of Hinata-sama by the Kumo head ninja" said Hizashi. With that, Minato took off in the direction of the Hyuga compound.

Naruto was mentally patting himself of the back. He wasn't sure what the outcome would be now that Hyuga Hizashi would live, but that was all that mattered…he wouldn't be the only one with a living parent that should be dead.

The night of the incident, Minato arrived at the Hyuga compound to find the Kumo head ninja restrained and unconscious, but alive. Early the next morning, a letter was sent to the Raikage, demanding an explanation for the attempted kidnapping.

The Raikage responded with the same response he had in the original timeline, that Konoha had unjustifiably attacked a Kumo ninja. The letter he sent was for the Kumo ninja to be returned, alive, to Kumogakure and for Konoha to hand over Hyuga Hiashi as a sort of compensation. However, they didn't count on the interrogation expertise of one Morino Ibiki. Within a day of the incident, Ibiki was able to get a full confession out of the Kumo head ninja, forcing the Raikage to eat his previous demand. The following negotiations resulted in Minato being able to return the head ninja in exchange for a few prisoners that Kumo had captured during the war, including Umino Rakano, Iruka's father. In the original timeline, Iruka's parents had died during the Kyuubi attack, but Naruto's intervention had allowed for Iruka's parents to live. Unfortunately as a result, Iruka's father was captured by Kumo forces about two years later during a skirmish between the two nations. However, this incident basically allowed for Iruka to be reunited with both of his parents.

Now this also got Naruto thinking. This time travel thing was becoming complicated and quick. He already wasn't sure of a few outcomes and now one more thing was added to that list…would Iruka still become Iruka-sensei? The Iruka-sensei who had treated Naruto to ramen every now and then? The Iruka-sensei who basically became a big brother figure to Naruto? Still, regardless of how Iruka would turn out, he felt happy that Iruka would not grow up alone either.

Speaking of Iruka, Naruto was riding along on top of his dad's shoulders one day, wearing the Hokage hat on top of his head for his dad when he spotted a small kitten with a red bow in its ear dash across the street. Chasing the kitten was a group of three genin, one of which just so happened to be Iruka as a 13 year-old genin. Naruto laughed at that. He couldn't believe that was the Iruka who gave him and Team 7 the very same cat mission…oh the irony.

Naruto and Minato arrived at the Hokage Tower. Minato had brought Naruto to work after Naruto had reaffirmed to him that he wanted to be Hokage like his dad. Since Kushina was away on a mission, Jiraiya was doing…well Jiraiya stuff, and Kakashi was who knows where, Minato was stuck watching Naruto for the day. Besides, he figured he would take Naruto to the top of the tower and work on his son's training a little when he got a break.

A knock was heard on the door and in stepped someone Naruto was not intending on seeing until the chunin exams.

"Hokage-sama" the newcomer hissed. A small hint of disrespect and hatred present in his voice.

Naruto's blood boiled and if he had the Kyuubi sealed inside him, there was a very good chance said demon would have been unleashed upon Konoha at this moment. Standing inside the office was the man that had caused Naruto so much suffering and hardship in the previous timeline. The man who took his best friend away from him. The one who had killed the Sandaime in the previous timeline…Orochimaru.

* * *

Jutsu

Hakke Rokujuyon Sho: 

A taijutsu technique associated with the Gentle Fist style of fighting. This is one of the techniques passed down solely to the main branch that is characterized by 64 near-simultaneous strikes to an opponent's tenketsu.

Users: Hyuga Neji, Hyuga Hiashi

Kaiten:

Another taijutsu technique associated with only the main branch of the Hyuga family and the Gentle Fist fighting style. This is considered an ultimate defense where the user simultaneously rotates while unleashing chakra from every tenketsu of their body, creating a dome of chakra to shield them from enemy attacks.

Users: Hyuga Neji, Hyuga Hiashi

* * *

Author Notes

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Hoping I did the Hyuga incident in a somewhat realistic mater. At that time, Naruto only really had the henge available to disguise himself. Also, Naruto is still rather clumsy when it comes to fighting in his current 3 year-old body and as such he most likely would have lost a fight against the Kumo jonin if he had confronted him directly. Not to mention Hiashi was just around the corner. As a result, Naruto used the element of surprise and pretty much tackled the ninja into the wall, knocking him out. Because of that, Hiashi didn't kill the Kumo ninja, only restrained him after Naruto had left.

Neji's father is now alive and that will result in Neji's personality changing a little. However, Neji and Hinata won't really appear (with the exception of a slight mention) in the next couple of chapters up until sometime in the late academy years at the very earliest.

Also, in terms of Naruto's past life, I am using the anime as his past, so anything that happened in there I may bring back as some sort of flashback or event (but modified to the new timeline).

Please review/comment.


	5. Chapter 5: Orochimaru

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto

Posted: 12/18/12

* * *

**Chapter 5: Orochimaru**

If the Kyuubi had been sealed inside Naruto, there is a good chance it would have been unleashed now. Sanding in his dad's office was the one man that had caused Naruto so much pain in his previous timeline. The one who was responsible for the death of his grandfather figure and many other of his comrades. The one responsible for taking his best friend away and turning him down a path of darkness…Orochimaru.

Naruto studied the snake for some hint as to whether this was a different Orochimaru or if this was the same Orochimaru as the one from the original timeline. Sadly, it was easy to tell that this Orochimaru held very little respect for the man he was facing and even a hint of hatred. He had most likely been masking his emotions, but some of it still managed to seep out. This was the Orochimaru who would betray the village and come back, only to try and raze it to the ground.

Naruto wanted to kill this man. He wanted to kill him before anything bad could happen. He didn't want to give Orochimaru another second to scheme and plan his destruction of the village. If it wasn't for the fact that he was still a three-year-old, he would have lunged at the man with all his might and killed him. However, he knew that he currently did not have the power to handle this snake nor could he with his dad around and most likely a half dozen ANBU hiding in the shadows of the room. Naruto knew Orochimaru was due to betray the village any day now. He remembered Jiraiya saying something like this. If he remembered correctly, it would be soon that Orochimaru left. If everything played out as it had in the original timeline, Orochimaru would return during the chunin exams in Konoha, just after he became a genin. If everything worked out correctly, it was there that he'd do away with the snake once and for all, assuming his dad didn't do anything first.

Orochimaru turned and left the office after handing the Hokage a document. Before he left, Naruto caught that grin that he had known meant Orochimaru was up to no good. However, getting worked up would not help and Naruto did his best to calm himself down.

For the rest of the night, Naruto did his best to mask his emotions. He was forcing himself not to act and allow everything to flow naturally. This time travel stuff really was tricky. The more he changed, the less he knew. It was all about choosing the right moment to act. Should he act too early, the future becomes cloudy and uncertain and he would no longer be able to prevent certain things from happening. Would he act too late, the future that he had escaped from would return and his efforts would have been for nothing. And unfortunately, now was not the right time. No, the right time was definitely the chunin exams, when it was just he and Orochimaru in the Forest of Death.

* * *

Minato arrived at his office early the next morning, only to have a staff member from the hospital knock on his door. "Hokage-sama. There is something you need to see" said the doctor in an urgent tone. Minato rushed off, following the doctor as he was led to a room in the hospital. On the bed in the room layed a young purple-haired girl who he recognized as Mitarashi Anko, Orochimaru's student. She looked to be in extreme labor and pain as multiple monitors were hooked up to her, monitoring her vitals.

"I see that she is having some sort of medical condition, but why does this involve me?" asked Minato. It was not his duty to see to the affairs of the hospital, even if one of his ninja was hospitalized. That was the duty of Konoha's Surgeon General.

"It's because of what is causing her condition, Sir" said the medic on duty as he rolled Anko's neck over to reveal a bruise that was shaped like three tomoe….Orochimaru's Cursed Seal of Heaven.

"What…?" said Minato in shock. He took a look at the mark and realized that it was indeed some sort of cursed seal. "Wake her up."

"But sir, she's in extreme pain. Waking her up would just be cruel" said the medic.

"I only need a minute to ask a single question. I need to confirm a suspicion" Minato replied. The doctor complied, administering the reagent to her IV that would counteract the anesthesia. A few minutes passed and Anko began to stir, before crying out in pain and clutching her neck.

"It…th-the pain" she creid out.

"Anko, please. I need to ask you one thing" said Minato as the doctors did their best to restrain her. "Where did you get that mark?"

"Or…orochimaru" she said before shutting her eyes at the pain. Minato sighed as the doctors re-administered the anesthesia.

Minato closed his eyes for a moment in thought. He had suspected Orochimaru of doing experiments on this level, but until now, he didn't have proof. He turned to one of the ANBU. "Boar, get the Sandaime and the rest of your company and be in my office in 15."

"Hai, Hokage-sama" the ANBU addressed his leader before taking off.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Minato, Sarutobi, and a company of four ANBU were inside a sealed office. "For months, I've been suspicious of a certain shinobi's actions. Just last week, one of the ANBU uncovered a laboratory that had been used for human experimentation. Inside, we found the bodies of 14 toddlers. Thirteen of them are already dead with one in critical condition. They were subjects of said experiments. Just minutes ago, Mitarashi Anko was admitted to the hospital in severe condition with what appeared to be some sort of juinjutsu on her neck. It was then that my suspicions into the shinobi's identity were confirmed. The one responsible for these atrocious acts is…Orochimaru" said Minato.

"Minato…are you sure?" said Sarutobi in shock. He did not want to believe that Orochimaru was responsible for such monstrosities, one of his own students. However, in the back of his mind, he knew that it was Orochimaru. He had noticed his student becoming ever more isolated and frustrated with the village ever since Minato was appointed Hokage. In fact, there was a reason he didn't appoint the genius Sanin Hokage and in his mind, he couldn't dismiss the fact that he saw this coming.

"I am. Prepare yourselves. I've learned of the location of one of his secret laboratories and I intend to end his experiments once and for all" said Minato. He turned towards the door with the four ANBU in his trail.

"Minato…wait" called out the Sandaime. "I'm coming with you. Orochimaru was my student and it is my responsibility to see that he is punished for his crimes." The Sandaime ripped off his clothes, revealing his black battle armor underneath.

The ANBU who Minato had appointed to trail Orochimaru and investigate these laboratories let the company of six deep into the tunnels and catacombs beneath Konoha. At the end of the damp tunnel, there was a door that was cracked open.

The six took positions outside the door before bursting into the room. The sight was not pretty. Orochimaru was standing over a table that had what looked to be the remnants of a dissected human body. Blood covered the table and around the room were bodies practically sewn to the wall.

"Heh, it looks like you've finally found me" hised the snake. "How unfortunate."

"Orochimaru! What's the meaning of this?!" exclaimed the shocked Sandaime. All six of the ninja were stunned at the scene that was before them. They had prepared themselves for anything, but this was still just too much.

"I was surprised someone made it through all my traps, but considering who's here, I'm actually not surprised" said Orochiamru.

"So you're the one responsible for the disappearance of many ninja and children alike" said Minato, glaring at Orochimaru. "And this explains your strange behavior as well."

"Orochimaru…why would you of all shinobi do a thing like this?" asked one of the ANBU. The ANBU was silenced when Orochimaru mentioned killing the ANBU.

"Speak! What were you doing here?" demanded the Sandaime.

"Well, it's useless to play dumb I suppose. I've been working on developing a jutsu!" explained Orochimaru.

"You've been experimenting on humans for a purpose of developing a jutsu?!" exclaimed a disgusted Minato.

"Kinjutsu, huh…" sighed the Sandaime. "What on earth did you hope to achieve?"

"Everything there is" explained the Sanin. "I want to obtain all the jutsu and gain a true understanding of everything in this world…the first person to mix blue and yellow named that color green…I only want to do the same thing. If blue is the chakra and yellow is the seal, then green is the jutsu. But, in order to obtain every possible jutsu and truth, it would require an eternity, you see…only the one who understands everything after spending such time on this can be fittingly call the 'ultimate being'. Sadly, the life of the body is too short. When you die, everything ends there…"

"Orochimaru…you can't…that jutsu can't be…" said the Sandaime.

"Yes, it's what you think…" said the Sanin. "The 'Spell of Immortality'."

Minato disappeared in a flash and reappeared behind Orochimaru, digging his own kunai into the back of the snake's chest. "What you've been doing is wrong by all means. It violates the very foundations of humanity and morals. Your ambitions will end here…huh?" Minato stopped his talking with the sound of Orochimaru's laughter.

"Oh I will live on. And I will perfect my immortality. Once I do, I'll be back and the village you've come to know and love will be at the mercy of my will. When I return…the Leaf will burn" said Orochimaru as he slumped over and a plaster-like substance peeled away from his face.

"Another body?" said Minato.

"Orochimaru…what path are you going down, what are you becoming?" growled Hiruzen.

The four ANBU and two Kages surrounded the body that they had originally thought of as Orochimaru. A quick examination revealed it to be nothing more than a corpse that Orochimaru had been manipulating in his place. It was clear that Orochimaru had already left and no one knew where he had disappeared to.

* * *

The six of them returned to Minato's office going over what they had just seen. One thing was clear, Orochimaru had abandoned the village in pursuit of his own selfish ambitions. From now on, he would be classified as an S-class criminal, which practically amounted to a kill-on-sight order for the Sanin.

A knock was heard on the office of the door. "Hokage-sama, come quickly! Jiraiya-sama's at the village gates and he appears injured!"

Minato and Hiruzen rushed to the village gate to find Jiraiya receiving medical attention to his injuries, in particular an arm. He looked over at his student and sensei with a regretful look. "I'm sorry. I couldn't stop him. Orochimaru…is gone, abandoned the village."

A few people who had gathered gasped. Orochimaru, one of the heroes of two wars…abandoned the village? Minato stood up to speak. "Yes. We recently learned that Orochimaru had been conducting underground experiments that defy the very principals of humanity for atleast the past few months. When we confronted him earlier, we saw that he was no longer the Orochimaru that you looked up to in during the war. He has abandoned the village and he has threatened to return only to destroy the Leaf" said Minato. A few people gasped in horror. "But do not fear. Do not worry. We, the Leaf, are strong. Orochimaru cannot break us and he will pay dearly for his crimes against humanity! As of today, Orochimaru is considered a traitor of Konoha and will be treated as one. Should he ever dare come near the Leaf again, I will do everything in my power to ensure that he is the one who breaks, not Konoha!" Many of the people cheered at the Yondaime's declaration. In the back of the crowd was Kushina, holding Naruto. They were at the park when they saw Minato rush down the street and as a result followed. Naruto was practically beating himself up inside. He should have killed that snake when he had the chance, but from what he overheard from the conversation between his parents later than night, Orochimaru had left days ago, leaving behind a corpse copy of himself to deliver the message to his dad and Jiji.

* * *

Another few months passed, making it about three and a half years since Naruto had returned from the future and was born. The only thing he had dared to change, besides the Kyuubi attack, was the survival of Neji's father.

The training his parents had him doing was still nothing special, but it was better than nothing. Naruto knew that they didn't want to start training him right away, giving him some time to be a kid before entering the life of a shinobi, but they had decided to work with him a little until he turned 5. It was then that they would increase his training and really begin to work with him before he entered the academy in the spring of his sixth year.

All children desiring to be shinobi entered the academy at age six. This was a newer regulation put in place after the wars to ensure that shinobi weren't being pushed in and out of the academy system to a point where they were not ready to handle the responsibilities of being a shinobi. They would then remain in the academy for a total of six years with the first two years being basic schooling, such as mathematics, literature, and physics, with the true shinobi academy taking over in the third year of the academy and going for four years.

While this was not entirely what Naruto had planned, he couldn't argue with finally being able to be a kid for once. In his past timeline, he was practically neglected at the orphanage, being given the bare minimum to survive, until he was kicked out at age five. It was then that the Sandaime gave him an apartment and Naruto began to live on his own, living mainly off of instant ramen and a monthly allowance. He wanted to get to training as there was a lot he had to prepare for. For now, his training consisted of just some simple physical conditioning exercises and some very basic chakra exercises, supervised mainly by his mother, who was on standby in Konoha's shinobi forces for a few more years, until Naruto joined the academy. She had also begun introduction martial aspects to the training, teaching him the very foundations to the Uzumaki taijutsu style. He remembered that back in the academy, he had always been passable in tajutsu, but he was still never that good at sparing and his taijutsu form had always been rather sloppy. Now with his mom teaching him taijutsu, he was excited that he could shine a bit in class, instead of getting his but kicked every time.

Naruto had come to the park, and had surprisingly found a young Shikamaru and Chouji there. These two had always been some of Naruto's closer friends and a few of the people who had actually played with Naruto as a child. It felt good to be hanging out with the guys again and he was hoping everything between them would turn out the same as it did in the original timeline. So far, everything was looking good as Shikamaru was still as lazy as ever and Chouji was never without some sort of snack at hand.

Sitting over on a bench were the mothers of the three boys: Kushina, Akamichi Katani, and Nara Yoshino. They were giggling between one another, so they were most likely gossiping about something. As Shikamaru would say…troublesome.

The time came though and the three were forced to part ways as it came close to dinner time. Naruto enjoyed his brief time with some of his old friends and would have to try to become good friends with them sometime soon as they had always been two people he could count on in the past.

On the way back to the house, Naruto and Kushina ran into someone Naruto had actually been hoping to meet soon…Sasuke.

"Hello Mikoto" Kushina greeted with a warm and friendly voice.

"Kushina" Mikoto replied, equally warm. Both women were holding the hands of two three-year old boys. "And I guess this is Naruto? Boy has he grown."

"Nah, deep down, he's still my baby boy" said Kushina, deeply embarrassing Naruto. Sasuke laughed at this…wait, Sasuke laughed?

"_Sasuke, he's laughing? Wow that's weird"_ thought Naruto. This definitely wasn't the Sasuke he remembered.

"Aww, and this must be Sasuke" said Kushina, moving her hand closer to Sasuke's face. Naruto knew what was coming and he was tempted to save the boy, but this is what he gets for laughing at his misfortunes. Kushina began pinching Sasuke's cheeks, causing Mikoto to laugh just a little and embarrassing Sasuke as well. Now both boys had been embarrassed by their mothers.

"Oh, I don't think you two have met" said Mikoto.

"_Well, we kind of have met, but none of you know that"_ thought Naruto.

Naruto smilled and offered his hand to Sasuke. "Namikaze Naruto, nice to meet you."

"Hn. Uchiha Sasuke, same here" said Sasuke. The two boys shook hands. This first meeting was much smoother than the first meeting between the two boys in the previous timeline.

"'_Hn'? I guess some things never change"_ thought Naruto.

"Hey Kushina, why don't you bring Naruto over to play some time. Sasuke doesn't have a lot of boys in the family that are his age and I think it would be nice for the two of them to get to know each other better" suggested Mikoto.

"Well, what do you think, Naruto" said Kushina. Naruto looked up at his mom and smiled with a look in his eyes that said 'really?! Can we please?' "Well, looks like Naruto wants to, how about I bring him over Saturday and they can spend the day getting to know each other?"

"Saturday works just fine. I'll see the two of you then" said Mikoto. The two women took their sons and walked away from each other.

"_Sasuke…this time it will be different. I won't let Orochimaru take you. I won't let you go down that path again. I will save you"_ thought Naruto, more determined than ever.

* * *

Author Notes

So, I was never sure as to when exactly Orohcimaru left the village. It could have been the moment Minato was named Hokage or it could have been years later, but I was never sure of the exact time and I couldn't find too much evidence that gave the exact time of Orochimaru's defection.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Please review and comment.


	6. Chapter 6: Sasuke

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto

Posted: 12/31/12

I apologize for taking so long to post this. I was hoping that I would have more time to write with Winter break, but it turned out to be the exact opposite.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Sasuke**

Naruto being dumbfounded would be considered an understatement in this case. _"Where the hell am I? There is no way I'm in the past"_ thought Naruto. Today, his mother had brought him over to the Uchiha for a little play day with his new (old) friend Uchiha Sasuke. Yet, something about this Sasuke was…off. This Sasuke was not comtemplating joining Orochimaru. This Sasuke was not scheming on how to kill his borther. This Sasuke hadn't been twisted and manipulated by Madara. No, this Sasuke was having fun, running around like a normal 4-year old would, and laughing…wait, laughing? Ok, now Naruto was sure that he had screwed something up and ended up in a parallel universe instead of the past. However, this is how Sasuke was before the Uchiha Massacre. In short, this Sasuke was happy.

Naruto and Kushina had just arrived at the Uchiha compound when Naruto saw this strange Sasuke. Uchiha Mikoto instantly came out and greeted them and before Naruto and Sasuke knew it, the two mothers left them to go do…mother stuff.

"Hey, do you want to go play soccer?" said Sasuke, turning to Naruto.

"_Okay, now things really are getting freaky. Who the hell is this and what happened to Sasuke?"_ thought Naruto. He couldn't believe Sasuke was actually asking him to play a game. Then again, he couldn't believe anyone had wanted to play with him, yet it seemed like everyone wanted to play with him now that he was the Hokage's son and not the village's plague or the 'Demon Brat'. The only person who didn't always want to play with him was Shikamaru and that was completely understandable as the Shikamaru in this timeline was still as lazy as the other timeline. Even then, Shikamaru would occasionally play with Naruto at the park whenever they met.

"Sure" replied Naruto to Sasuke's request. Sasuke smiled and ran off towards the field, Naruto following closely behind. Naruto was going to get as much of this Sasuke as he could before Sasuke became an emo avenger. Then again, Naruto was hoping that would never happen.

In his original timeline, the reason Sasuke became the emo avenger that Naruto knew and loved was that Itachi had massacred the entire Uchiha clan. That happened because the Uchiha clan planned to revolt against the village as a result of discrimination and isolation caused by the growing distrust of the village. It was believed that the Uchiha clan had a hand in the Kyuubi attack and more villagers began to resent the Uchiha as a result, when the only one involved in the attack was Uchiha Madara. While Madara might have been an Uchiha, he had abandoned the clan decades ago, back in the era of the founding of the village and the Shodaime Hokage. Since then, everyone in the village had pretty much dissociated Madara from the Uchiha clan, until the Kyuubi attack.

Yet there was no Kyuubi attack. That had been foiled the moment Naruto and Kurama returned to the past. Did that mean that this Sasuke was here to stay? Naruto hoped so. He would rather have the happy and smiling Sasuke, even if it did feel out of place at times, over the brooding emo avenger of the Uchiha clan.

For the rest of the morning, Sasuke and Naruto played a few games of soccer on the clan fields with the rest of the children around their age in the clan. Naruto soon got over the awkwardness and began to enjoy himself again. This was the normal routine for him…go play with someone, wonder why they were actually playing with him, and then just forget it the previous question and have fun.

However, there was one thing about Sasuke that was still the same as the Sasuke in the original timeline. This Sasuke had a bit of a competitive edge. Whenever Naruto managed to score a goal, Sasuke seemed like he had to score two goals in response. Naruto would then match Sasuke's two goals and Sasuke would score three in response. Yep, his future rival was still in there.

Lunch came in the early afternoon and both boys were panting hard. Both were bruised and battered from their little battle when their mothers came out. As expected, both mothers were instantly suffocating their own sons with their closeness as they checked the scrapes and bruises on their respected boys.

"So what do you want to be when you get older?" Naruto asked Sasuke. The two were out on the porch eating a pair of bento boxes for lunch. The what do you want to be question was a common question for children to ask each other.

"Hmm…well, I know I want to become a shinobi, and a strong one to. Just like my Niisan" said Sasuke.

"What's your Niisan like?" asked Naruto.

"Itachi-niisan's so cool and strong. But he's always there for me when I really need him. Especially after father's strict training. But, everyone's always comparing me to him" said Sasuke. "No matter what I do, it always seems like Itachi always gets the praise."

Surprisingly, Naruto saw a little bit of his former self inside this Sasuke. The part of himself that was always looking for attention.

Suddenly, Naruto and Sasuke heard a voice behind them and they turned to see who it was.

"Niisan!" exclaimed Sasuke. Naruto looked into the eyes of one who would eventually kill his entire clan for the sake of stopping a civil war, something that forced said person to give up everything they once cherished.

"Hello Sasuke-kun" greeted the newcomer. "And I see you have a friend. It's nice to meet you, Namikaze-san."

"Naruto" corrected Naruto. "I'd like to be called just Naruto, if that's okay."

"Very well, Naruto-kun" said the newcomer.

"Naruto, this is my Niisan, Itachi" said Sasuke, introducing Naruto to the one person he used to hate, but eventually developed a great deal of respect for.

"Hello, Itachi-san" greeted Naruto. _"What do I do about you? Will you betray your clan this time around? Will you throw everything away? Or can I find some way that will make you stay? Some way that will allow you to look after Sasuke?"_

Again, Naruto still had no idea as to whether or not Itachi would be forced to kill his clan. He would have to play it as if it still was going to happen and then be happy that it didn't if it didn't happen. He knew one thing for sure though; Itachi was probably one of the biggest factors for keeping Sasuke in Konoha. If he could help Itachi, the chances were much better he could save Sasuke.

The rest of the afternoon passed with the two boys continuing to play together. Naruto still couldn't help but feel that everything they played turned into some sort of competition. _"Perhaps we were truly meant to be rivals. Perhaps it was fate…crap, now I'm starting to sound like Neji"_ Naruto thought to himself. Still, despite the newly found rivalry, the two genuinely had fun, that is until Kushina and Mikoto came and embarrassed them a little before they had to call it a day.

* * *

Minato was stressed out, and that would be considered an understatement. His day began with an exciting council meeting that really shouldn't have lasted more than an hour, let alone four, if a few elder council members hadn't opened their mouths. Then there was the load of paper work on his desk, primarily containing reports and requests from activity in the eastern part of the Land of Fire, the part of the country that was near the Land of Water, where a very bloody civil war was currently being fought. As such, this resulted in an influx of missions from merchants, fishermen, and previous Kirigakure customers taking their business to Konoha, landing a few huge piles of paperwork on Minato's desk. To make things even worse, he had his hands full with the Hyugas and Inuzukas.

Inuzuka Hana, the Inuzuka heir, and Hyuga Mijiro, a member of the Hyuga main family, had been placed on a genin team with some loudmouth by the name of Hoshino Ringo. Inuzuka Hana was the top girl of her class and Hyuga Mijiro was the top boy of the class. As per tradition, they were paired with the class dobe, Ringo, on a genin team. The team had failed the true genin exam, and as such, Hana and Mijiro were forced to be held back. Of course, this caused an outrage in their respective clans. Before Minato could think on that further, he heard a knock on his door. The last thing he needed right now was to be interrupted, at least until he heard who was on the other side of the door.

"Mina-kun, can I come in?" asked Kushina from outside the Hokage's office.

"Sure Kushi-chan" replied Minato. Kushina entered, Naruto not far behind. Kushina made her way behind her husband and began giving him a much needed shoulder rub.

"Mina-kun, why are you getting all stressed out again?" asked Kushina.

"It's that stupid tradition. You know, the one where you place the top girl and boy with the worst student in each class on the same genin team?" said Minato. Kushina nodded. "Inuzuka Hana and Hyuga Mijiro were good potential candidates, but they are being forced to be held back by that tradition. They failed because the final member of their team, Hoshino Ringo, was too far behind them and he eventually got frustrated at them until he just exploded. I get why the teams were originally formed like this, but wouldn't it be better if the teams were formed to succeed, not fail?"

In his head, Naruto was recalling his genin team placement, of course he had been the class dobe with Sasuke and Sakura being the top boy and girl in the class, respectively. It was true that he had heard horror stories of those teams falling apart and it was true that his team almost did as well, but they were lucky and managed to pass Kakashi's test.

"Well why not change it then? You are the Hokage after all…you can do whatever you want, can't you?" said Kushina, really getting into Minato's back rub.

"I am. I guess I could do that…ohh, right there" said Minato as he began to feel the effects of Kushina's hands at work on him.

"Then how about you do? I'm sure that would relieve some stress in the future" said Kushina as the tone of her voice actually turned a little on the seductive side. "Or I know a way to relieve some stress right now, Mina-kun." She leaned her head down to kiss her husband as Minato responded in full to her.

All at the same time, Naruto was witnessing the whole turn of events and he began blushing a rather bright red. And then he felt the sudden urge to cough for some reason. Minato and Kushina heard this cough and immediately remembered that Naruto was in the room as well. The blushes on their faces were probably brighter than Kushina's hair.

Needless to say, the following days, Minato reformed the groups for this year's graduating genin class and there was a greatly improved success rate with the teams that had passed. Instead of grouping students based on their standings in the class, he and some of the academy teachers looked more in-depth at the abilities of the students and formed the groups so that the students would be around the same level as each other and the members of the teams would be able to work well with one another. The fail rate went from about 66% to 33% and the jonin instructors actually began to see that they were better off when teaching students that were on the same level as one another, instead of having one genin on a team that may be far ahead of the rest of the team, being held back by the other two teammates, or far behind and holding back the other two teammates.

* * *

Time Skip (about 2 years)

A little more than two years had passed since Naruto and Sasuke had first met. It was also almost six years since Naruto had come back. Sasuke had his sixth birthday just the other week and Naruto's was about two months away. In about six months, they would be starting at the academy.

For their first two years at the academy, the main focus would be on general schooling, such as math, language, and history. Naruto wasn't looking forward to this that much, except that he was actually going to the academy. He was looking forward to the shinobi classes which, while there were few of them in the first two years, were still there. For the most part, the shinobi classes that he would take for the first years was nothing more than physical conditioning and an introduction to weapons. Sadly, they wouldn't get to the jutsu portion of the class until the third year, so Naruto still had to wait before we could start showing off jutsu left and right.

On his own, he had re-learned how to do the academy three and he even found that he could still do his signature jutsu, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. He was glad that he still had large chakra reserves as that was one thing he didn't think he would be able to live without. Unfortunately, he had no explanation on how he knew a B-rank jutsu at the age of almost 6, so he wasn't able to use that jutsu yet.

Speaking of shinobi training and jutsu, Minato and Kushina had steadily increased his training since his fifth birthday, the landmark they set where they would start training their son for real. Naruto was thankful that because of his parent's training, he did have one jutsu that he could use. His parents had taught him the Henge no Jutsu, and while basic, at least it gave him something.

Even though his parents were beginning training, they still made sure he had plenty of time to play and be a five-year old. It was common for Naruto to go to the park and play with a few of the boys who would eventually become his teammates and friends in the previous timeline, most notably, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Shino, and Sasuke. Naruto knew that if everything went well, they would all become incredibly powerful shinobi and great friends.

Naruto was sure that Shikamaru, Chouji, Shino, and Kiba were already getting clan training as well, but it was Sasuke's training that Naruto was really focused on. The past year or so, it was not uncommon for Naruto and Sasuke to be training together. Once a week, Naruto would go train with Sasuke and his father and on another day each week, Sasuke would come and train with Naruto and either Kushina, who had decided to become an active shinobi once again, or Minato, depending on who was most available that day.

It was during this time that Naruto managed to show Sasuke the Henge no Jutsu that he had picked up from his parents, and being Sasuke, he soon had learnt it. Both boys had somehow managed to pick up a jutsu that, while it was an academy level jutsu, they should not have known for at least three years. Sasuke was glad that he even managed to get some praise out of his father for learning a jutsu before he entered the academy.

The two of them really had become good friends and it left Naruto wondering what happened in the past life. If they had somehow had the opportunity to become friends in the previous timeline, would it have happened? Perhaps he should have gone to Sasuke that one day he passed the Uchiha on the dock. The time when both of them knew the pain of being alone. One thing was for sure though…he would not lose his brother again, no matter what happened.

* * *

A few more months had passed and Naruto had turned 6. It was about two months before he would start at the academy. Naruto had just finished with an exhausting morning of training. Normally, there would be a little bit of training in the afternoon, but Kushina and Minato were both finding themselves busy in the afternoon. As a result, Naruto was left to himself, although he really wasn't left to himself. The days when no one could watch over Naruto, Minato would usually assign an ANBU to keep an eye on him. In particular, the ANBU he would normally assign only had one eye to keep on him. Unlike normal ANBU though, Kakashi wouldn't keep to the shadows and simply tail Naruto. Sometimes he did, but other times he would appear and play with the boy a little. Kakashi had become fond of his sensei's son and even Naruto would refer to Kakashi as Kakashi-niisan. Perhaps it was just a cover for Naruto, but he did notice that Kakashi had acted more like an older brother to Naruto. This also raised the question of when did Kakashi learn that Naruto was Minato's son back in the previous timeline or even why wasn't Kakashi a little bit more forward. This was a question Naruto didn't know the answer to so he dropped it for now.

Besides, it was the second Thursday of the month. It was today that a lot of the boys around his age would gather in the park for a large soccer game. Naruto actually enjoyed playing this, seeing as he wasn't shunned by every adult the moment he stepped foot in the park.

On his way to the park, Naruto managed to pass Neji, walking along with his father. Neji gave Naruto a slight wave and Naruto returned the gesture before the two went their separate ways. Naruto couldn't help but feel a warm sense of accomplishment for helping save Neji from the loneliness that he had faced in the previous timeline. This Neji was actually happy and seemed to be rather carefree.

Naruto arrived at the park, around the time when everyone else was getting there. The teams were picked and thankfully, the same mistake wasn't made like it was the last time they played. Everyone learned that Naruto and Sasuke had to be on opposite teams or else they would just dominate the other team by themselves. Basically, the two needed to be on opposite teams to cancel each other out, and this only helped to fuel the rivalry that was already going on between the two friends.

Playing the game was Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji, and a few other boys that Naruto didn't know very well. There was also one boy, a newcomer, that had shiny black hair and rather large, round eyes. The most defining feature though was the eyebrows. _"Is that Lee?"_ was all Naruto could think.

"Hello, I'm Rock Lee. May I join you?" asked Lee, politely.

"Hey, I'm Namikaze Naruto. There's an open spot on my team if you want to join" said Naruto, offering an invitation to Lee. Lee graciously accepted and the game began. Already, the addition of Lee onto Naruto's team showed to be a mistake, and not in a bad way. Lee had skill and the physical stamina to keep up with Naruto and Sasuke, threatening to throw off the balance that used to be present. But still, it was merely a game and no one cared much as to who joined in, they would just need to find someone with the ability to match Lee. Naruto was a bit surprised at this. He was certain Lee had not met Gai-sensei yet and already he was in good physical shape.

Naruto's attention however, was drawn away from the game when he noticed that there were a few girls off to the side playing by themselves. One of them was most definitely one Yamanaka Ino as she had blonde hair, a hair color that Naruto remembered only Ino and her family and himself having in the village. He looked at a few other girls, most of which he didn't recognize, but then he caught a glimpse of pink behind Ino. "Sakura-cha…umph" was all Naruto could say before getting pelted in the side of the head with the soccer ball.

Naruto opened his eyes a moment later to see Sasuke standing over him. "Hey, quit being a dobe and pay attention" said Sasuke. Naruto twitched at the mentioning of 'dobe' and that did not go unnoticed to Sasuke. Naruto got to his feet and rubbed the side of his head. Before getting back into the game, Naruto took another glance over at where the girls were and saw Sakura again.

"_Don't worry Sakura-chan, even if you don't remember, I'll keep my promise to you. I'll make sure Sasuke is safe"_ thought Naruto before getting back into the game.

* * *

Author Notes

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

I apologize for time skipping two years in this chapter, but I felt that it was better than going over every time Naruto and Sasuke got together. The next chapter will be the start of the academy and that is where a lot of things developmental wise will begin.

As of now, Naruto can use the academy three jutsus, and his personal favorite, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. The Kage Bunshin, in my mind, does not require good chakra control as long as you have enough chakra to force into the jutsu, which Naruto has. Publicly, he can only use the Henge as that is the only jutsu people have knowledge of him knowing. Also, Sasuke knows the Henge as well.

Also, Minato has eliminated the tradition surrounding the formation of the team where the top students and dobe of each class are placed on a team together. I want to ask a few questions on how you would like to see the teams done and a few other things. (just answer these in a comment or PM):

Do I leave the teams the same as the original timeline? If not, then do I only use the rookie 9 to form the three teams or should I bring in some OCs? (I will say this though, the InoShikaCho, aka Team 10, will remain the same. That has proved to be a tradition that has worked well over the years)

Fan girls. Both Naruto and Sasuke will have them. Who would you like to see Sakura after and who would you like to see Ino after?

Please Review/Comment


	7. Chapter 7: The Academy

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

Posted: 1/6/13

**Chapter 7: Back to the Academy**

"Naruto! Wake up!" Kushina's shouts echoed through the house as Naruto was jolted awake. At this time, Kushina came barging through the door. "Get up! You're going to be late for your first day at the academy!"

"What?!" shouted Naruto as the panic began to set in and Naruto frantically began searching for something to wear. Five minutes of panicked dressing later, Naruto had probably won the award for the worst dressed kid in Konoha. Somehow, he managed to have his orange shorts on backwards, his shirt inside out, mismatched shoes and his socks…let's not get started on that. In fact, the only thing that would be considered neat would be his hair, and even that was still shaggy and spiked. Minato got a good laugh out of his son's antics while Kushina rushed him back upstairs to change his clothes.

When Naruto came back down, his orange shorts were on the proper way, his blue t-shirt was right side out and he had an orange vest on the outside. He had the correct pair of blue ninja sandals on, eliminating the mismatched sock, and his hair was still a mess. Unfortunately, nothing could be done about the hair. He had managed to inherit his father's genes when it came to hair and Kushina realized soon in their relationship that spiky and messy was the best it was going to get.

Giving Kushina a quick kiss, Minato grabbed Naruto and proceeded to take his son to the academy for the very first time. "I can't believe it's already time for you to go to the academy" Minato said to Naruto. "It felt like just yesterday that you were riding on my shoulders and sitting in a cradle in my office."

"Huh?" Naruto looked up at his dad with a confused look and Minato just laughed.

"Don't worry, son. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun in the academy. You'll have all your friends, Sasuke, Kiba, Chouji, Shikamaru, Shino, and even Neji. And I'm sure you'll make tons of other friends" said Minato. "And besides, you'll learn how to become a true shinobi there, not just through our lame training sessions."

"But I like our little training sessions. I'd rather be doing that than sitting through those reading classes and stuff that Neji keeps complaining about" said Naruto. "I swear, if I hear him say 'no matter how much we dislike them, we were fated to take them' again, I'm going to go crazy!"

Naruto had failed to prevent Neji from turning into his fate-obsessed future self, but a fate-obsessed Neji with a father had to be better than a fate-obsessed Neji without a father, right? At least he wouldn't hold that grudge against the main branch.

Minato laughed at Naruto's complaints. "I'm sorry to say, Naruto, But you have to take them. If you want to be a good ninja then you need to be able to read, write, count, and know about our village's history."

"Well, the history class won't be too bad, you said they talk about the Hokages, right?" asked Naruto.

"Yep. And seeing as you keep saying you want to be a Hokage, you're going to have to know all about them" said Minato.

"But that's why I have you!" shouted Naruto. "Who better to learn about the Hokages then from the Hokage himself!"

"Well, here we are. Now at least try to enjoy your first day and don't worry, you'll be doing a few ninja-classes in the afternoon" said Minato, leaving Naruto at the academy gate. "Here's some money. You'll have an hour for lunch and Ichiraku's isn't far from here so you should be able to get some ramen."

"Awesome! Thanks dad!" said Naruto, giving his dad a hug.

"Now, your mother will be here to pick you up afterwards. Have fun, son" said Minato as Naruto turned and ran off through the courtyard of the academy into the building to his classroom. Minato felt a tear come to his face. "They grow up so fast."

* * *

"_I can't believe I'm back in the academy again. This is going to be great! No more being the 'dead-last'!"_ thought Naruto. _"And what makes it even better is that I've got parents to greet me each day. No more sitting alone on that swing. And I'm actually going to have friends because their parents aren't going to hate me!"_

Naruto arrived at his room and entered. The class was a little bigger than he remembered, but he knew that there would be a few kids who dropped out of the ninja program. However, the important people were here: Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino. Everyone that was in his class before and that had become his friends in the previous timeline were here. Naruto found his seat next to Sasuke, the same place it had been the last time he was here. Things certainly were nostalgic.

In fact, the only person who wasn't there was Iruka-sensei. While Naruto desperately wished it had been Iruka teaching the class, he also knew that Iruka wouldn't become a teacher for three more years. When Nauto's teacher came in, he couldn't believe his eyes and nearly face planted out of his seat. _"It's the Closet Perv, Ebisu. He's really my teacher? Oh this is going to be good."_

"Welcome class, to the first day of your time here at the academy studying to be great ninja of this great village. I'm Ebisu and I'll be your sensei for the next few years. Now, why don't we go around introducing ourselves. How about telling your name and any aspirations you may have."

The introductions started near the front of the room with a few kids that Naruto did not recognize and went around until it reached Ino. "I'm Yamanaka Ino. Someday I'm going to succeed my dad as the head of the Yamanaka clan."

"Ah yes, Ino. Daughter of Inoichi, the interrogation expert" said Ebisu. The next person happened to be Sakura.

"I'm Haruno Sakura. Umm…I want to be the first shinobi of my family" Sakura said in a shy and quiet voice.

"_That's right, Sakura was pretty shy at first until Ino helped her out of her shell. It was a shame they had to end their friendship in the academy due to Sasuke. Perhaps I can fix that" _thought Naruto. The introductions came to Kiba.

"I'm Inuzuka Kiba and this is my buddy Akamaru and I'm going to become the best hunter-nin in the village one day!" declared Kiba.

Next up was Shino. "Aburame Shino…" Nothing else was really said.

"_Heh, Shino was always never much of a talker" _thought Naruto.

It then came around to Shikamaru. "…zzz…" Everyone's sweat dropped upon seeing the Nara napping within the first five minutes of class.

"Looks like I win Sasuke" said Naruto, turning to Sasuke. The two had made a bet with Naruto betting Shikamaru would fall asleep within the first hour of class. Shikamaru was suddenly awakened when an eraser was thrown at him by Ebisu, apparently the Closet Perv didn't appreciate sleeping in class.

"Troublesome…Nara Shikamaru…can I go back to sleep now?" Most of the people's faces faulted and Naruto couldn't help but laughing at his friend.

Chouji was next. As Naruto had also expected, Chouji was munching on a bag of snacks. "Akamichi Chouji…munch…I want to be a strong ninja…munch…like my Pa."

Hinata was next. "H-hyuga H-hinata. I w-want to b-be a s-strong n-ninja like m-my father, y-yet kind l-like my m-mother" stuttered Hinata.

"_Still stutters…We're going to have to do something about that at some point in time"_ thought Naruto.

After Hinata was someone Naruto did not expect but still remembered from the old timeline. "I'm Kurama Yakumo and I want to become a strong ninja to make my clan proud."

"_Hmm…Yakumo. I remember now, she was that genjutsu genius who had a mental demon manifest in her head. Although if I remember correctly, dad sealed away that thing for good last year"_ thought Naruto. "_Hmm, speaking of Kurama, I wonder how the old Furball's doing?"_

The introductions got around to Sasuke. "Uchiha Sasuke. I want to become a strong and skilled shinobi like my Niisan, Itachi." Naruto looked around and sure enough some of the female population of the class already had their eyes set on the Uchiha.

"_Yep, he's definitely going to have the fan girls still"_ thought Naruto, who was finally next. "I'm Namikaze Naruto and I'm going to take my dad's hat as the Hokage! –ttebayo!" When Naruto had first said that in the previous time line, he had been laughed at and ridiculed by the class; however, there was none of that this time around.

"Ah yes, the son of our great Hokage. Well, if you want to become Hokage, I can show you the right way" said Ebisu. "In fact, it sounds like all of you want to become great ninja. Well, just stick with me and I'll show you the shortcuts you need to accomplish your goals!"

"_Great…and I had enough of the Closet Perv in the previous timeline. So when's the first __Henge no Jutsu__ test? That'll be good"_ Naruto let out a slight laugh. Unbeknownst to him, when he turned away from examining Sasuke's future fangirls and introduced himself, he failed to notice that a good portion of feminine eyes locked onto him as well.

* * *

Time skip (6 months)

"_Like Shikamaru would say, this is starting to get troublesome. I've had enough of these basic academic classes. I'm ready for the actual ninja classes!"_ thought Naruto. The past six months had in fact been mostly academic classes with a few physical conditioning and introductory weapon and taijutsu classes. Unfortunately for Naruto, the taijutsu classes didn't help him all that much as the academy forms no longer applied to him since he had his mother teaching him the Uzumaki taijutsu forms.

Naruto looked around the class and noticed the expressions on the faces of most of his friends. Kiba, Sasuke, Ino, and Chouji all looked extremely bored, Shikamaru was obviously napping, Shino…well no one really knew. The only people paying attention out of the 10 of them (including Yakumo) were Hinata, Sakura, and Yakumo, but Naruto suspected that those were only masks and they were secretly bored as well. Most of the clans in Konoha already taught their children reading, writing, and math before the academy and these first two years were irrelevant to them. Not only was Naruto from the future and he already knew the stuff, but his mom had taught him what they were learning now.

Naruto got that look on his face, the one the village would soon come to fear. _"Looks like it's time for Naruto, Prank Genius of Konoha, to make a comeback. Oh this is going to be so good."_

The next day, Naruto showed up a little early to rig the ceiling. At this point in time, only Sasuke and Kiba had shown up to the academy and were wondering what he was up to. Naruto briefly explained to them what he was doing and both gave him a smirk and 'this is going to be good' look. Now Kiba, Naruto could understand as the two of them had pulled a series of pranks back in the old timeline together. However Sasuke? He couldn't remember the Uchiha boy ever being into his pranks before, but he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to turn Sasuke into one of his accomplices.

About 30minutes later, Ebisu walked in to begin the class. He started off as normal and everything was going fine, which was the problem. Naruto had rigged everything so that when the top drawer of the teacher's desk was opened, the prank would activate. But Ebisu hadn't even touched any drawer on the teacher's desk.

"Umm Sensei?"Kiba raised his hand, getting tired of waiting as well. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I don't suppose you have a few extra pieces of paper. My dog ate my notebook last night." This earned a whine from the puppy on his head.

"Ah certainly Kiba. Just make sure to keep these away from Akamaru" said Ebisu as he reached for the top drawer where the papers and supplies were kept.

Naruto, Kiba, and Sasuke waited in suspense as Ebisu's hand slowly crept closer.

"Boom!" an explosion of powder and confetti was heard from the front of the room as Naruto's prank went off. When the dust cleared, there stood Ebisu, completely stunned and looking more clown-like.

The class burst out in laughter and Sasuke managed to snap a picture. Naruto would be holding onto these as kind of a scrap book and there would be many more to come.

"Alright! Who was the little punk that did this?!" demanded Ebisu.

"Oh come on Ebisu-sensei, quit clowning around. Why would any of us do this?" joked Naruto, trying to play innocent, while at the same time giving his teacher the 'I did it' look.

Sadly, Ebisu didn't get it. Either it was that Naruto had not built up his reputation as a prankster yet, or it was the fact that he was the Hokage's son and no one suspected the Hokage's son of being a mischievous little devil.

"_Damn clueless Closet Perv. Oh well, that just means I'll be able to get away with plenty of more pranks on him in the future"_ thought Naruto.

After class for the day, Naruto returned home. He still couldn't get used to the feeling that there was usually someone waiting for him after the academy. There were some days where he was left on his own or Kakashi-niisan had to get him, but those were the day that both Minato and Kushina were stuck with their own work. Still Naruto couldn't quite get used to it, actually having parents there for him. It was funny just how different his life had been up until this point.

"So how was your day, Naruto?" Minato asked.

"It was good. Usual boring lectures" replied Naruto.

"That's not what I heard" said Minato, shooting his son a knowing look. "From what I saw your class seems to have some sort of prankster."

"_Shit, how did he find out when the Closet Perv was completely clueless?"_ thought Naruto.

"There you are! How's my little boy today!" said a way too happy Kushina.

"Honey, you do know we shouldn't be encouraging him" replied Minato.

"I know dear, but I can't help it. My son just pulled his first ever prank!" cheered Kushina. "After all, someone's got to take up my mantle as Konoha's Prank Master."

"Umm…" Naruto looked up at his mom, very confused. "Wait what?"

"Now come on Naruto, let mommy tell you some of her secrets." With that Kushina grabbed Naruto and whisked him away into another room in the house. Minato was left in the kitchen with his sweat dropping.

"I'd better make sure she doesn't overdo it" said Minato before following Kushina.

* * *

"Naruto!"

Naruto found himself running away from the academy, being chased by a soaked Ebisu. It had taken two weeks worth of pranks for Naruto to get the fact that he was the one pulling them through his sensei's perverted skull.

So far, Naruto had been successful in evading his sensei. _"Hmm, one perveted chunin won't be able to catch me. Now let's see, what was my record from the previous timeline? Oh yeah. The time I painted the monument I had 6 ANBU, 3 jonin, and most of the school teachers chasing me"_ thought Naruto. He was too busy in thought to see the yellow flash that appeared in front of him as he crashed into his father's legs.

"Ah, Hokage-sama. Thank you" said Ebisu, finally catching up to Naruto.

"Ebisu, I'll deal with Naruto later. Why don't you take him back to class now" said Minato.

"Hai, Hokage-sama" said Ebisu as he grabbed Naruto by his shirt collar. "Alright you little brat, let's go."

When class was let out a few hours later, there was Minato, waiting for Naruto outside the academy. Naruto gulped. This was the one thing he missed about being an orphan was that there would be no parents to be scolded by.

"Let's go get some ramen, Naruto" said Minato, giving his son a smile. Naruto was even more worried now.

At Ichiraku, Minato and Naruto had just finished their first bowls. "So Naruto, what did you do this time?" asked Minato.

"It was nothing harmful, just a bucket of water when Ebisu-sensei went to open the closet door" said Naruto. Minato sighed.

"That makes what? The 15th prank you've pulled since your mother had that little 'exchanging notes' talk with you?" asked Minato.

"Err, 16th. You missed the look on Ebisu-sensei's face when I came in as you and told him that the ANBU were looking for him. It makes me wonder if he really did do something" said Naruto.

"You impersonated me…?" said a slightly irritated Minato. _"At least that explains why Ebisu was running from any ANBU, especially when I had Kakashi pick Naruto up from the academy the other day."_

"Umm, yeah…funny, huh?" said Naruto.

"Naruto…you've got to stop" said Minato.

"But what else am I supposed to do?" asked Naruto.

"I don't know…pay attention in class?" responded Minato.

"But I'm already top in the class, acing all the tests so far. Kaasan's already taught me more than I need to know for the academics" said Naruto. _"Well there's something I wasn't expecting to say any time soon."_

Minato sighed. "Just promise me you'll tone down a lot on the pranks, okay? And make sure you apologize to your teacher tomorrow."

"I…understand. I'm sorry dad" said Naruto.

"Good. Now how about another bowl of ramen?" asked Minato.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto offered his apology to Ebisu, who was a little skeptical at first, but accepted the apology. Needless to say, most of the class was a little disappointed that Naruto wouldn't be pulling the pranks, but everyone had to agree that perhaps he did go a little overboard.

"_Don't worry. I'm not done for yet. I'll just give it some time to cool down and then Naruto, Prank Master of Konoha, will return"_ thought Naruto as he sat down next to Sasuke.

"You're not done yet, are you?" Sasuke whispered to his friend.

"Nope. I just need to take a break and let things cool down a bit. Besides, it'll give me time to plan for the big stuff" responded Naruto, making sure no one else heard.

"Now class, Next week, we will begin our Konoha history unit. As a result, I want each of you to prepare a small report that you'll present at the beginning of next week. Now, you are to write this report on a well-known shinobi of Konoha. They can either be living or deceased, but they have to be distinguishable" explained Ebisu.

"Awesome! This will be easy!" declared Naruto.

"And no, Naruto, you may not use your dad as the subject of the report. In fact, no one here may use a person that is in their family" said Ebisu as Naruto's head dropped.

Sasuke turned to Naruto. "Hey, you think I could use your dad for the report?" whispered Sasuke.

"Sure, knock yourself out" replied a depressed Naruto.

* * *

"_Hmm…who should I write my report on? I can't use my dad. I could use Jiji, but I think I overheard a few people talking about using him. I could also do Ero-Sennin or Baachan, but I think I overheard Sakura or Ino talking about Baachan, and besides, there's enough pervertedness in the class without giving a report on Ero-sennin" _thought Naruto as he was walking home. Suddenly, his attention was drawn away from his thoughts as he noticed three rather large boys dragging a small girl away. _"That can't be…can it?"_ Naruto began to tail the three boys and what appeared to be their captive.

"Who do you think you are, running into me like that?" shouted one of the boys.

"I-I'm s-sorry. I-it was an a-accident" replied the small girl who had been thrown to the ground.

"Hey Boss, look. She has those eyes" said one of the other boys.

"Yeah, you're right. She must be that Neji's cousin" said the third boy.

"A Hyuga huh? So think you're above us that you can go around hitting us all the time?" scolded the first boy. "Think you are above us just because of your name?"

"N-no…I'm n-not like that…ahh!" Hinata said as the main boy started to shove her head into the ground.

"Now say you're sorry!" demanded the first boy.

"I-I'm s-sorry" responded Hinata.

"I didn't hear you. Say it again and say it louder!" shouted the boy.

"She said she was sorry. Now let her go!" shouted Naruto, arriving on the scene.

"Well…well, if it isn't the 'Great Son of the Hokage'. Think you can just tell me what to do just because your dad's the Hokage?" mocked the boy.

"No, but I won't let you torment an innocent girl when it was just an accident and she already apologized before you dragged her of" responded Naruto.

"Phft. Your dad may be Hokage, but he's not here to save you now and you're just a newbie, where as I'll be graduating from the academy at the end of the year. Take this!" The boy lashed a punch out at Naruto, who merely ducked underneath the blow and took out the boys legs with a sweeping kick. The boy landed flat on his back with Naruto standing over him.

The second boy, wanting to take revenge for his friend tried to knock Naruto upside the back of his head, but Naruto simply bent forward and threw his foot back into the boy's gut, sending him back as well.

All three boys scrambled back away from Naruto. "Now are you three going to apologize for being big jerks?" said Naruto.

"W-were sorry" said the first boy as the three of them hightailed it out of there. Naruto turned to Hinata, who was still on the ground and offered her a hand.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry those three had to be like that" said Naruto.

"N-no, i-it's not y-your fault" stuttered Hinata. "I j-just…"

"Hey, don't do that" said Naruto.

"D-do w-what?" replied Hinata.

"Doubt yourself. You're not weak and you can be strong if you just believe in yourself. Be who you want to be, not what other's are trying to make you out as" replied Naruto. Hinata looked up at her savior and the first thing she noticed was his eyes. She had seen those eyes before, a few years ago on the night when she was nearly kidnapped. At first glance, they looked cheerful and happy, thankful that she was okay, but a closer examination revealed there to be a sadness and pain underneath the mask, the type that was inflicted through some sort of tragic event and the type that would never go away, no matter how much it was nursed…the type of pain that was engraved into the soul itself.

"Hinata-sama!" shouted a voice running towards her and Naruto. Their attention was diverted to see another Hyuga running towards her. "Hinata-sama, what happened? You're a mess."

Naruto explained the whole situation to the Hyuga. "Thank you, Namikaze-san. If you'll excuse me, I should get Hinata home. By the way, my name's Ko."

"No worries, Ko. I was happy to help" replied Naruto as Ko took Hinata away. _"Well that was better than last time. At least I didn't get beat up as well and Ko didn't scold Hinata for being near me."_

Hinata turned around to get one last glimpse at her savior before he disappeared from view. _"You always seem so happy, Naruto. What happened to you? What caused you that pain?"_

* * *

"…and so that concludes my report on Hatake Sakumo, the White Fang of Konoha. He was a true hero who understood that the value of a comrade's and friend's life was much greater than that of a mission. It's just a shame the village didn't recognize his sacrifice until it was too late" said Naruto as he finished giving his report on a renown shinobi of Konoha.

A few tears came to Kakashi's eyes as he was hidden in the back of the room observing what Naruto had said about his father. Last week, Naruto had come to him and asked him for some information on his father, Hatake Sakumo, for a report that he was to give in school to start off the Konoha history course.

The rest of the class gave their reports with some of the more notable reports being Sasuke, who covered Namikaze Minato, Sakura, who had chosen to do her report on Tsunade of the Sanin, and some other kid who did Ero-Sennin and also referred to him as a great writer of romance novels. Ebisu completely agreed with the kid and Naruto foresaw a future super-pervert in his class.

* * *

Later that night, Naruto was sitting in his room reflecting. One of the reports in the class that really got his attention was from Ino, who had done hers on the Shodaime Hokage, Senju Harishima. She mentioned the battle between him and Uchiha Madara, which most kids just took as something of the past. However, for Naruto, that instantly focused his mind on something else, something that might be coming up and one thing he was hoping to change.

"_Hmm…Okay, I've got a little more than a year and a half until the Uchiha incident is supposed to happen. I should probably start looking into a few things to see if it is going to happen this time around or not. Hmm…my shadow clones should be able to handle the task while I'm off at school, dad's at work, and mom's away on missions. Dad's gotta have some files in his study that could prove useful"_ thought Naruto.

* * *

Author Notes

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

So the prankster Naruto has begun to return. He ended up going a little overboard at first and has had to stop for a little to let things cool off. Don't worry; he will still be pulling pranks, but probably not for a few months. Besides, as I mentioned, this gives him time to plan something bigger than just a simple bucket of water on a door.

Regarding the character's development in the past chapters, I have always believed that the kids in Naruto do develop at a slightly faster rate than kids normally do, but not unreasonably. Not entirely sure why, perhaps it's the presence of chakra or something. One place I see this is where Hiashi had already begun training Hinata at the age of three.

Also, regarding Hinata's analysis of Naruto, the Hyuga's are excellent at reading people, probably second only to the Yamanakas.

Anyways, for reference, it has now been almost 7 years now since Naruto has come back. For the purposes of the story, the Uchiha Massacre (in the previous timeline) happened when Naruto was just older than 8. Like with Orochimaru's defection, I was not able to find a definitive date on when Itachi committed the massacre, but I believe it to be around the time when Sasuke was about 8 or 9.

Please review/comment.


	8. Chapter 8: Jutsu

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto

Posted: 1/13/12

**Chapter 8: Jutsu**

One morning as Naruto arrived in class, he looked over to his best friend and it was obvious Sasuke was depressed for some reason. Something was up with the Uchiha, but Naruto wasn't really sure just yet. He was sure the massacre had not even happened yet as he still had about a year to go until that, so it had to be something else.

"Hey Sasuke, is everything alright?" asked Naruto, deciding just to dive right in.

"Hn" was all Sasuke responded with.

"Oh come on, Mr. Sourpuss. If nothing's wrong, then quit pouting" Naruto knew that in the previous timeline, that would have earned him a strong punch to the face. However, already being friends, Sasuke just shot the blonde an annoyed look.

"Just be quit, class is starting" said Sasuke. For Naruto, this normally meant nap time, and seeing as today's lecture was on the Yondaime Hokage, it seemed like a perfect time to catch up on the sleep Naruto missed the previous night from trying to refine his chakra control. Last night, he managed to get the tree/wall walking technique while his parents were asleep and weren't looking.

Naruto managed to get about 20 minutes through his nap before an eraser upside the head knocked him awake. Looking around, he also saw Shikamaru rubbing an eraser-mark on his forehead. The two boys looked at each other and the conversation that could be summed up by their looks went something along the lines of 'troublesome, isn't it?'

At lunch Naruto managed to catch up with Sasuke in the courtyard of the academy. Both boys pulled out their bento boxes that their mothers had given them for lunch. It was a shame that Naruto couldn't have ramen for lunch anymore. Even though both he and his mom would be considered ramen addicts, Kushina still insisted upon Naruto getting the proper nutrition and as such, the variations of food that he ate compared to the previous timeline increased drastically.

"Come on, something's up" said Naruto to Sasuke.

"It's…it's nothing really. Just my dad" said Sasuke. Naruto put a little more pressure on him, trying to get a little more out of the Uchiha. Finally, Sasuke gave in. "You know how I'm always annoyed by being compared to my brother?" Naruto nodded. "Well, this past week, father's been teaching me one of our clan's jutsu, the Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu." (Great Fireball Jutsu)

"And? How's It going?" asked Naruto.

"Hn. I can't get it. I don't know why…and every time, he just looks at me…disappointed" said Sasuke, clutching his fist. Naruto never had any idea Sasuke's childhood was really like that. He had believed that Sasuke's life and his relationship with his family was perfect, that is until Itachi killed the clan, but he was never expecting Sasuke to be seen as a disappointment by someone.

"Hmm…you said Fire-style, right?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah, but you don't have anything that can help. If I'm correct, your dad's a wind- and lightning-style user" said Sasuke. "And I think your mom is an earth-style user."

"Well, my mom can use fire-style and water-style as well, but that's not who I was thinking about" said Naruto. "Jiraiya-oji is in town today and he's really good with the fire. I'm sure he'll be able to help, and even better you won't have to worry about the pressure of your father being there."

Sasuke liked this idea. It would be good to train for once without his father breathing down the back of his neck.

When the day came to an end, Jiraiya was there to pick up his godson as Minato was busy with Hokage work and Kushina was out of the village on a mission. This was perfect for Naruto as he could ask Jiraiya right away to see if Sasuke could train with him today.

"So how was your day today, Gaki?" asked Jiraiya.

"When are you going to stop calling me that?" responded Naruto.

"I'll stop calling you a Gaki when you stop being a Gaki" laughed Jiriaya.

"Anyways, I was wondering if Sasuke could come home with us and train. He's working really hard on this fire jutsu and I told him you might know some tricks to help him, after all, you are the 'Great Sanin Jiraiya' aren't you?"

"Haha! That I am" exclaimed Jiraiya. "I'm sure I can help your friend out a little."

Sasuke was talking to his father when they were approached by Naruto and Jiraiya. "Uchiha-san, Naruto here expressed interest in wanting Sasuke to come train with the two of us today, if that's alright with you" Jiraiya asked Uchiha Fugaku.

"_Hmm…training with one of the Sanin, and perhaps the Hokage as well…"_ Fugaku thought. "Very well. Sasuke, I expect you to take any lessons Jiraiya-sama here gives you seriously." Sasuke nodded and went with Naruto and the white haired Toad Sennin.

In the backyard of the Namikaze estate, at the family's personal training ground, Sasuke had finished explaining everything he had done so far regarding the fire jutsu that his dad was having him work on. Jiraiya spent a few moments in thought.

"Alright kid, I want you to do it right now, but take your time. It sounds like you're rushing through everything and that can happen when you're under a lot of pressure" explained Jiraiya. Naruto nodded slightly, knowing exactly what Jiraiya was referring to from the previous timeline. "You won't be using this jutsu in any sort of combat situation for a few years yet, so there's no shame in going slow at first. Take time to build up your chakra and superheat it first. Then when it feels like your lungs are about to explode, release it all."

"_Why couldn't Ero-Sennin be like this when he was teaching me the Rasengan?"_ thought Naruto.

Sasuke nodded to Jiraiya and did as told, taking his time to gather the chakra. For him, it was nice working on this jutsu while not having his father's undivided attention. There was no pressure being put on him here. He actually just stood there for a few minutes, doing nothing, something he would have been scolded for by his father. And then…

"Katon: Goryuka no Jutsu!" Sasuke shouted. As he unleashed all the fire chakra in him, a giant fireball erupted from him. He had done it.

"_A fire jutsu at the age of 7, this kid's pretty good"_ thought Jiriaya. "Good, now all we need to do is find a jutsu for Naruto here."

"Umm Naruto, how are you doing that?" asked Sasuke as he turned around to look back at his friend and the Toad Sennin. Naruto was hanging upside down on a tree branch by the base of his feet.

"Ys, Naruto how did you learn that?" asked Jiriaya. Naruto struggled for an answer before Jiraiya said something. "You've been sneaking into your dad's study, haven't you?"

"Hehe, um yep" said Naruto, thankful that Jiraiya had come up with something for him.

"Hey Naruto, do you think you can show me how to do that?" asked Sasuke.

"Yeah, why don't you. I've got some work that needs to be done, so you can help Sasuke with the wall walking until he needs to go home" said Jiraiya as he began to walk away and pull a notebook out of his pocket.

"You're just going to peep again, aren't you?" asked Naruto. Jiriaya stiffened.

"I don't peep! I conduct necessary research that I need for my books" defended Jiraiya.

"What do you mean by 'peep' and 'research'?" asked Sasuke to Naruto.

"He may be a Sanin and a great ninja, but he's really just a big pervert" said Naruto.

"A pervert…eww" replied Sasuke. Being a kid, Sasuke was still considered fairly innocent.

"Yeah, I know. In fact, I've just thought of a nickname for him…Ero-Sennin" said Naruto. Sasuke laughed as Jiriaya face planted into the ground at his godson's declaration. There was another laugh coming from the house as Kushina was having trouble breathing.

"Kaasan! You're home early!" shouted Naruto running off towards his mother. Jiraiya used this time to slip away unnoticed before Naruto could think of anything else.

"Yep, an you'll be happy to know that we're going to Ichiraku tonight as I don't feel like cooking after that mission" said Kushina. Naruto cheered at this. "Now, what's this about you walking up and down trees?"

Naruto began sweating a little. "Umm, I kind of found a scroll on basic chakra control in dad's study" said Naruto.

Kushina sighed. "Alright, I'll have to tell your father when he gets home. There's some stuff in there that's too dangerous for you. Just don't get anything you can't handle, okay?"

"Don't worry mom, I won't" said Naruto. _"I guess it's time to get my __Kage Bunshin no Jutsu__ back for everyday use"_ thought Naruto as he began thinking.

"Good. Now if you want, you can show Sasuke how to do that. This past mission was really tiring and mommy needs to take a nap. I'll come and get you when it's time to get dinner" said Kushina as she left the two boys to themselves.

"So what was that technique called that you were using?" asked Sasuke.

"Oh that? It's a basic chakra control exercise that they teach you after the academy called the wall-walking exercise" said Naruto. "I mean, it's not much compared to that jutsu you just did, but from everything I've heard, it's very useful."

Naruto explained the basics of the technique to his friend and Sasuke spent the next hour or so trying to get the amount of chakra from his feet just right. By the time Sasuke was able to make it a few steps up a tree, his chakra reserves were running very low from the fireball earlier in the day and they were forced to call it a day for training. With about an hour before Kushina would wake up and they would get ramen, Naruto decided to run and grab some ice cream as the two just hung out or the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

It was late, and Naruto had gone to bed…or did he? A small blonde figure crept towards the door of his room as he made his way for his intended target. Minato had not arrived home so Kushina had yet to tell him about Naruto's 'sneaking into his office'. This was perfect for Naruto. He knew his dad well enough to know that as soon as Kushina told him that Naruto had been sneaking into his study, and this worked perfectly into Naruto's plan.

With Sasuke now having his fireball jutsu, Naruto had figured that it was time get his shadow clones back. Now, he already knew the jutsu, but he didn't have an explanation on how he could use the jutsu. Tonight would solve that problem. In order for everything to work, he would need two things to happen. First, he would have to get the Forbidden Scroll from his dad's study, the same scroll that the entire village freaked out over when he stole the night of the Mizuki incident in the previous timeline. However, the good thing about this was that there was no potential in releasing the Kyuubi this time around as he didn't have the giant furball sealed inside him. The second thing was that he had to get caught reading, at the very least, the scroll.

Naruto snuck along the hall, careful not to notify anyone. As he opened the door to the study, there it was, the cabinet that contained the Forbidden Scroll.

"Hello my old friend, it's been awhile hasn't it" said Naruto as he removed the scroll from the cabinet. On his way back to his room, he heard the laughter of his dad from downstairs, meaning that he had to act fast.

"Now let's see here. Hey, seeing as I actually know the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, perhaps I could get another out of here" thought Naruto as he opened the scroll. As it was last time, the Taju Kage bunshin no Jutsu was the first jutsu on the scroll.

"Right, already know that one, so let's see what else I've got to work with" said Naruto as he unfurled the scroll even further. The next jutsu was one that he was not hoping to ever see again…the Edo tensei. _"Oh hell no! That jutsu's just horrible."_ Naruto quickly brushed that jutsu aside and began looking through the scroll for another one that he thought that he might be able to use. After about four jutsu he came to one.

"Hmm...okay. Yeah, this should work. I just need some way to test it out. Wait!" declared Naruto as a light bulb went off in his head. "This should work. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

* * *

"Mina-kun!" shouted Kushina as she jumped into Minato's arms, giving him a long kiss. Minato had been having a stressful day and the sight of his wife throwing herself at him was more than enough to chase away some of the stress; however, that usually meant something else.

"Okay, Kushi-chan, what's up?" asked Minato.

"What'd you mean? I can't just give my husband a kiss after a long, hard day as Hokage?" asked Kushina, bushing her finger across Minato's chest.

"It's not that. In fact, I quite enjoyed that. But I know you better than that to know something's up" said Minato.

Kushina sighed. "It's not much…yet, but Naruto brought Sasuke to train with Jiriaya, or as he called him Ero-Sennin…" Minato was on the ground laughing at the nickname his son had given his sensei, the same reaction Kushina had when she first heard it. A few minutes passed and Kushina was able to help Minato regain his composure. "Anyways, when I went out to check on them, Naruto was hanging upside down in a tree."

"Huh? Why is that a problem? He's a kid. It's normal for them to go climb trees" replied Minato.

"I know that, but he was using chakra" said Kushina. Minato's eyes widened as he realized his son was already working on genin level chakra-control exercises. "And he said he got it from a basic chakra control book in your study."

"I see…" said Minato as he and Kushina made their way up towards the study. "Well, at least it was only an elementary chakra control book and not something like the Forbidden Scroll. Still, I'll talk with him in the morning about taking stuff from the stud without asking." Minato opened the door to the study as he just wanted to make sure everything was still in its place…however, everything was not in its place. "The Forbidden Scroll! It's gone!" Minato began freaking out.

Kushina also began to panic as well. That scroll contained the formula to remove the seal that contained the Kyuubi, and the last thing she wanted was someone releasing the Kyuubi through Konoha.

"Shit! I've got to get the ANBU on finding it right away" said Minato. Suddenly, Kushina's mind started to think, which really was a surprise seeing as she was as impulsive as Naruto.

"Minato, don't you have a Hiraishin seal on the scroll?" asked Kushina.

"Oh…yeah…that could work" said Minato, in disbelief that he would actually forget about that. However, he didn't need the Hiraishin to find the scroll.

"Kage Binshin no Jutsu!"

The two of them heard that come from the direction of Naruto's room. "Oh no…he didn't" said Kushina.

* * *

"Great! Now let's get started on this next jutsu!" declared Naruto to his two clones.

"Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze!"

Naruto stiffened at the calling out of his entire name. That was never a good thing.

He slowly turned around as a smile plastered his face. "Hi mom. Hi dad" he said. Yep, he was in trouble now. Kushina's hair had somehow risen to resemble nine tails. This was the telltale sign that Naruto knew he was in trouble.

"Naruto, do you know what you've got there?" asked Minato.

"Umm…a cool jutsu scroll?" said Naruto innocently.

Minato sighed. "Naruto, which jutsus in that scroll did you look at exactly?" asked Minato.

"Just this first one, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" said Naruto. That one was obvious as there were three Narutos in the room. However, Minato let out a sigh of relief that Naruto hadn't seen any of the other jutsu in the scroll. The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was forbidden only because of its chakra cost, but there were other jutsu in that scroll that were forbidden for other, darker reasons.

"Wait, which one of you is the real one?" asked Minato. The two clones just smiled and disappeared, leaving a grinning, yet sweating, Naruto. "Naruto, you mother told m about your little adventure into my study to get a book on chakra control, and while that was fine, you should have asked first. And now I come home to find that scroll missing, only to find that you've taken it. Why?"

"Well, I found it in a cabinet and I thought it would be better than climbing the bookshelf" said Naruto. "What's so bad about this scroll in particular?"

"Naruto, that scroll contains a variety of forbidden jutsu" said Minato.

"Cool! So that means there are some powerful jutsu in here?" exclaimed Naruto.

"No! The jutsu in there are forbidden for a reason. They're either harmful to the user, or they go against all laws of nature and are considered immoral" said Minato.

Naruto gulped. "I'm sorry dad! I didn't mean to!" pleaded Naruto as he wrapped himself around his dad's legs.

"So long as the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was the only thing you got out of it, then it's okay. That jutsu was only forbidden because of its chakra cost if you use too many. Still, I'm going to pick you up after school tomorrow and we're going to have a talk about that jutsu in particular" said Minato. "Now promise me no more sneaking into my study, okay?"

"I'm sorry dad, and I promise" replied Naruto. However, on the inside, he was applauding his performance. He now had his shadow clones back for everyday use.

As Kushina and Minato exited the room, they were practically jumping for joy. Their 7 year-old son had somehow managed to learn a B-rank jutsu. Perhaps their son was a genius like his father.

* * *

The following day, Naruto exited the school, only to find his dad waiting for him. "You ready for this, Naruto?" asked Minato.

"What exactly are we doing, dad?" gulped Naruto.

"Figuring out to what extent you can use that jutsu" said Minato. "Just wait here a moment."

"Hizashi! There you are my old friend" said Minato, going over to greet Hizashi who was here for Neji.

"Hogae-sama, what pleasure do I have to meet you today?" bowed Hizashi.

"Hizashi, you know what you can call me Minato" said Minato.

"Sorry, Minato" apologized Hizashi. "Anyways, what can I do for my friend today?"

"I just need to borrow your eyes real quick" said Minato. "Naruto's already learned a jutsu and I need to figure out just how big his chakra reserves are."

"Already? Outside the academy 3?" asked Hizashi. Minato nodded and whispered the jutsu to his friend. "Wow. So it appears as if fate has granted us with genius sons." Like father, like son I guess. Still, Minato could see a hint of regret and disdain in Hizashi's eyes. They were directed at no one in particular, but Minato knew what his friend was so taken by. I was true, even in this timeline, Neji was still a genius and he still had a lot of potential. However, Hizashi knew that Neji was fated to the branch family of the Hyuga house, nothing more than a servant of the main branch which he had the potential to surpass.

Hizashi sealed away his emotions for the moment. "Byakugan!" he said activating his dojutsu and focusing it on Naruto. "T-this is incredible! His chakra reserves are larger than most jonin in the village!"

Minato was surprised by this. He had always known that Naruto had large chakra reserves, probably as a result of being related to the Uzumakis as they were renowned for their chakra and stamina. But still, jonin-level reserves at the age of 7 were something he was never expecting. "Thank you, my friend. And it was nice seeing you Neji" Minato said to the father and son before returning to his own son.

"_Jonin level reserves? But how?"_ thought Minato as his mind began contemplating a few things. Naruto noticed that his dad was in deep thought.

"Tousan? Is everything okay?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah. I just had to check with Hizashi about something" replied Minato as he took his son's hand and flashed back home. Naruto and Minato found themselves in the back yard of the training ground. "I think you know why we're here."

"Umm…I'm guessing it's because of last night?" grinned Naruto.

Minato sighed. "I still don't think you get it. You're lucky that the first book you took was just a basic book on chakra control, and I can overlook that. But the Forbidden Scroll is something completely different" said Minato. "That scroll contains some of the most dangerous jutsu this village had and when I found that it was gone, I was almost ready to put the village on high alert."

"I…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you like that. I was just looking for some cool jutsu to match Sasuke's" said Naruto.

"I know. I heard from Jiraiya-sensei that he performed that fireball jutsu the other day. And I know how competitive the two of you can get, so I guess I'm not surprised that you went looking for a jutsu. But next time, ask. I can't have anyone sneaking into my personal library, taking some forbidden jutsu, let alone my own son" said Minato. Naruto looked down and Minato placed his hand on his son's head.

"But, that's not why we are here. I think you got enough scolding from your mother this morning. I do want to talk to you about that jutsu, but I'm not going to scold you" said Minato. "I'll be honest, if there's any jutsu you could have gotten out of the scroll, I'm happy it was that one."

"Why's that?" asked Naruto.

"Because, if there is any jutsu in that scroll that you can use, it's that one. Most of the jutsu in that scroll were sealed away because they're immoral and go against the laws of nature; however, the reason the Kage Bunshin Jutsu is in there is because of its high chakra cost. In all reality, it's only in that scroll to keep ninja away from it until they've developed the necessary chakra reserves for it" explained Minato. "However, and I don't know why, you have extremely large reserves, even larger than most jonin in the village."

"_Thank goodness. If there was anything I wanted to take back with me, it was the massive amount of chakra that I had" _thought Naruto. "So does that mean I can actually use that technique?"

"It does, but don't go overboard. I brought you here because I want to see how many clones you can make, under supervision" said Minato.

"All right, here I go. Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted, making a few hundred shadow clones. Minato just stared in utter disbelief.

"Wow…umm, just…wow" was all he could say. "I…never…umm, just…"

All 300 Naruto clones got a laugh out of their dad's expression, causing them to dispel. "How was that dad?"

Minato was still speechless as Naruto came over and poked him a little. Minato snapped out of his trance and looked down at his grinning son. "How did you?"

"I don't know. I just put as much chakra as I could into the jutsu and that's what I got" said Naruto.

Minato let out a held breath. "Okay. For now, I'm going to have to forbid you from making that many clones" said Minato.

"What? But why?" complained Naruto.

"Because, creating that many clones puts a severe drain on your chakra system, not to mention the mental fatigue when you dispel them all" sad Minato. "You did read about the second ability of shadow clones, didn't you?"

Naruto let out a slight nod. "It said something about all the memories one clone gets going back to the original, I think."

"Correct. That's another reason why this jutsu is dangerous because of the mental fatigue that comes from dispelling a massive amount of clones" said Minato. "But, simply put, if that clone learns anything, then you learn what the clone learned upon dispelling. Now listen, I don't want you making more than let's say 10 clones for the moment, and that's even pushing it. I know you can make many more, but the more clones you make, the stronger fatigue you experience."

"Okay, I can do that" said Naruto. While 10 wasn't as many as he hoped, at least he could use it in public. "Hey dad, I was thinking. Can you use shadow clones?"

Minato smiled and made a few clones of himself. "I sure can. And I can make more than you. Why?"

"Well, you know how you're always complaining about paperwork?" Minato nodded. "Why don't you have a shadow clone do the paperwork for you?"

"Because Naruto…wait what?!" Minato's mind blanked again.

"Umm…dad? Are you okay?" asked Naruto.

"I just…umm" it took a few minutes for Minato's brain to regain itself. Out of all the times wishing that he could have someone else do the paperwork, the bane of being Hokage, he had never thought of doing that, and he was pretty sure no one else had. Minato pulled out a scroll from his coat and unsealed a large post with the inscription 'When realizing something completely obvious, bang head here'. Naruto spent the next few minutes watching his dad bang his own head against a solid wooden post.

"Dad?" Now Naruto was really getting worried.

"It's nothing…just" Minato broke down hugging his son and crying tears of joy. "Thank you, son! You've just made my job as Hokage a whole lot easier!"

"_You're seriously telling me no one has ever thought of that before? After all the complaining from Jiji and Baachan?"_ thought Naruto.

* * *

The following day, Minato was sitting in his office, not stressing out for the first time in years. He was sitting back in his chair, completely relaxed as he had four shadow clones working their way through the pile of paperwork on his desk. With the four clones, the paper work went by much faster, and more time could be devoted to reading the paper work. In particular, one of the clones caught a clause in one of the documents that the civilian council had snuck in to lower the graduating standards of the academy. They wanted there to only be three simple E-rank jutsu, the Bunshin, Henge, and Kawarmi, to be the only three jutsu that were required to pass the academy. Currently, a student needed those three and then two additional jutsu of their choosing, D-rank or better or clan techniques, in order to be able to pass the nin/genjutsu portion of the graduation exam. Minato was certain that had it not have been for the shadow clones, he would have skipped that part completely and allowed the academy standards to drop drastically.

"Minato, are you…what's going on?" asked Hiruzen as he walked into his old office and observed Minato's clones doing all the work. He had originally stopped by to discuss some steps towards securing the Forbidden Scroll after Naruto so easily got his hands on it, only to see a completely relaxed, stress-free Minato and a rapidly shrinking pile of paper work.

"Hiruzen, you'll never guess, but I found a way to combat the paperwork" said Minato with a big grin.

"You can't be serious…" said the old Hokage as his jaw dropped to the floor. Minato tossed the Sandaime the same scroll that he used the other day and the ex-Hokage went to work bashing his head on the same post that Minato had used the other day.

* * *

In the sewers beneath Konoha,

"Danzo-sama, I'm afraid to report but those documents you slipped into the Hokage's paperwork specifically aimed at giving you and the council more power have failed to be passed. It appears as if the Hokage now actually reads the documents before signing them" said a masked ANBU with the kanji 'Ne' (Root) in his mask.

"That is most unfortunate" Danzo sighed. Ever since Minato had taken over as Hokage, it had been increasingly difficult for he and his Root organization to work. Minato had disbanded Root upon its discovery at the time of taking the mantel of Hokage and Danzo, who was used to controlling much activity in Konoha through the shadows under Hiruzen's reign, was finding it increasingly more difficult to control Konoha.

"What are your orders, Danzo-sama?" asked the Root ANBU.

"Hold for now. I need think where we want to go from here" said Danzo. The Root nodded and disappeared. _"Things were so much easier when you were still in charge Hiruzen. My power here is slipping, and I can no longer do what I once could."_

* * *

Author Notes

Hope you enjoyed.

For time reference, Naruto is now just older than 7 years in age.

Naruto can now use the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu outside of his own personal time and Minato is beginning to suspect something is up with his son. At first, he is passing it off as Naruto being a genius, but he is also beginning to think something else is up.

Something's up with Danzo, but what? Stay tuned. I also promise that Naruto will begin to resume his pranking tendencies within the next chapter or two. Also, I will be explaining Naruto's healing probably in the next two or three chapters.

I do apologize that the size of chapters has been fluctuating. I think with this chapter, I have found the size that I prefer (between 5-7k words/chapter) for chapters. That will be about the size of chapters from now on and I may go back to previous chapters and make them more bulky, but that is sadly not on my list of priorities for now.

Please review/comment.


	9. Chapter 9: A New Academy

Quick note, I have realized that the whole healing bloodline does in fact work better with Kushina. That has been changed and will be the case from now on.

** Exwindzz:** No, I began writing the story around chapter 611/612 of the manga, the time when the Shinobi Alliance arrived to fight the Jyuubi. Basically what happened was that the Jyuubi turned out to be too powerful and wiped out most of the alliance in just a few attacks. Naruto, being one of the very few who survive the attack, then resorts to going back in time.

Anyways, enjoy.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

****Posted: 1/30/12

**Chapter 9: A Different Academy**

Minato was taking a happy afternoon stroll through his village. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the bane of all Kage's had been dealt with, all thanks to a little jutsu called the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. While he had left three clones to finish up with the day's paperwork, he was now able to take a walk through the village to personally check up on the status of various things.

While the dispelling of clones and transfer of large quantities of information was mentally taxing at first, he was able to make it so the clones would dispel at regularly spaced intervals, creating a replacement clone as they did so. This kept the information flowing to Minato at a controlled and manageable pace. There were occasional times when there was something he desperately needed to know, like the outcomes of certain mission. If that was the case, then one clone would dispel immediately instead of the regular interval. Overall, it was proving to be a highly effective system to tackle what used to be the only thing that could defeat the Hokage.

However, if there was one thing that really showed the merit of this system was that multiple people working on the paper work actually gave him, or his clones, to actually read the paperwork. Before, Minato only read the mission reports, while shoving aside most of the administrative documents. It was a good thing that Minato began using this strategy when he did; because he was already finding attempts by the civilian counsel to have him hand over certain aspects of village power to them. One of the more disturbing ones was their attempts at lowering the academy standards. Another example was when they tried to obtain voting powers in some shinobi affairs.

Two days ago, he had a very harsh meeting with the civilian counsel, reminding them to keep their noses out of the shinobi affairs of the village.

As it stood today, he actually had time to grab some ramen for a late lunch with Kushina, resulting in a happy Kushina. What made things even better was that Naruto was already at the ramen stands. This would be a wonderful family time, if only it wasn't for that Naruto was supposed to being in school right now.

"Hey Pops! How about another one" said Naruto, slamming down his second bowl onto the counter.

"Coming right up" called out Teuchi.

"Ahem!" Naruto cringed at the voice coming from behind him as he turned to see two angry looking parents.

"Ehh…Hi mom, hi dad. What are you guys doing here?" asked Naruto in an innocent fashion.

"I think the question is, what are you doing here?" asked Kushina. "You should be in school!"

"Don't worry, I've got that covered. I sent a shadow clone back" said Naruto. That still didn't help the situation.

"Naruto, that jutsu's not meant to be used to tackle menial tasks like school" scolded Minato.

"But you use it to do paperwork" retorted Naruto.

"But that's different" defended Minato. "Paperwork's the devil reincarnated!"

"And school's boring. I don't really see what the difference is" said Naruto.

"But unlike you, I could be doing much more important stuff instead of paperwork" said Minato.

"You mean like getting ramen?" replied Naruto. Minato and Kushina were at a loss for the moment. It was true. Ramen made Kushina happy and a happy Kushina was the most important thing to Minato, and it typically resulted in some fun later on.

"Fine, you can have one more bowl. But after that you're going back to school mister" said Kushina. "And you'd better not skip class like this again."

* * *

Naruto snuck back into class and covertly switched himself with his shadow clone. The only one who noticed this was Sasuke as half the class was falling asleep from Ebisu's lecture.

"What was that?" asked Sasuke.

"Shadow clone. You didn't think you're the only one to have learned a new jutsu recently, now did you?" asked Naruto, receiving a smirk from Sasuke.

"Okay class, that will conclude most of the curriculum regarding academics. We may be coming back to it later, but for now we will begin to shift our focus towards more practical subjects for becoming shinobi" announced Ebisu.

"_Wait, already?"_ thought Naruto before raising his hand. "Ebisu-sensei, I thought we weren't going to be starting the shinobi portion for another year. Or at least that's what I heard from Neji the other day."

"Yes, while that would normally be the case, Hokage-sama has recently become aware that the standards of the academy were dangerously close to falling to a subpar level. As such, he has suggested that some changes be to the curriculum. As such, you will begin to learn about the shinobi arts starting, well, tomorrow" explained Ebisu.

"Alright dad!" shouted Naruto. "No more boring lectures!"

"What was that about MY lectures?" asked Ebisu as flames erupted in the background and Naruto shrunk to about the size of Ebisu's foot.

"Err…oh look, I think I saw Jiraiya-oji!" shouted Naruto, pointing out the window. Ebisu quickly dashed out the window with an Icha Icha book in hand, looking for an autograph. The entire class sweat dropped and Naruto just chuckled. That was a pretty common distraction that Naruto would use for class to finish a few minutes earlier. Unfortunately for Ebisu, he would just 'miss' Jiraiya whenever that happened.

* * *

The following day started off as normal, Naruto got up, ate breakfast, and was chased out of the house by a Kyuubi-resembling mother after he complained about having to go to school. Still, he was actually excited for today as he would now begin to start the actual shinobi classes that were supposed to start next year, and even then they would be watered down. The main question was why? The simple answer was because Minato was the Hokage and not Sarutobi-jiji this time through. However, it appeared that the roots ran deeper than that. Minato was still young and strong while Jiji was getting up there in age. From what Naruto had figured out, the council had managed to wrestle a good bit of power from the aging Sandaime in the previous timeline, but that wasn't the case with his dad.

In Naruto's old timeline, the civilians had gained a good bit of say in the curriculum of the academy and they lowered the standards so that their children, civilian children, would have a better chance at becoming ninja. What this also did was make it so that none of them were prepared for the realities of being a ninja. With the exception of Lee, all of his friends were from shinobi families, and Lee was pretty much all but adopted by Gai-sensei. Sasuke, Hinata, Neji, Kiba, Shino, Ino, Yakumo, and Chouji were all from prominent clans. Tenten and Sakura had fathers who were once shinobi. And as for him, well he was the son of the greatest shinobi in the village, the Hokage.

Naruto arrived in class, took his seat next to Sasuke, as per usual, and waited for Ebisu. _"Man, I've really gotta start pulling pranks again. It's been a few months. But no more of those lame pranks. No its time to start on the big stuff"_ thought Naruto, getting that devious grin look on his face. Sasuke caught this and couldn't help but smile. He had to admit things were getting boring without Naruto to liven it up.

"So what are you thinking?" whispered Sasuke. Naruto couldn't help but let out a evil-sounding laugh.

"Give me a few days, then you'll see" responded Naruto.

"Okay class, take your seats" announced Ebisu-sensei. "Now, as you all know today we will begin the shinobi-classses. Before I begin on those, I would like to introduce you the man who will be my assistant for the next few years, Umino Iruka."

A 19 year-old Iruka stepped through the door and into the classroom as he introduced himself to the class. _"Yes!" _screamed Naruto in his head. _"I guess Iruka-sensei was meant to teach. Perhaps it was his fate after all. Damnit! Stop sounding like Neji!" _Naruto mentally beat himself. Still, Naruto couldn't be happier. Even if they never became what they did in the previous timeline, Naruto was so glad to have Iruka as a sensei again.

"Well class, now that introductions are in order, let's go over the basics of the shinobi arts, in other words, jutsu. Now, who can name the three different types of jutsu?" questioned Ebisu.

"Ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu" answered Sakura. Naruto looked over at his former teammate. The pinkette had a red bow that tied her bangs back. Yep, Ino had managed to bring the shy little Sakura out of her shell.

"Very good. Now, before I continue further, I just want to make clear that by the time you leave here, you will know at least five jutsu. Three have been preselected by the academy as standard jutsu that every young ninja should know, and then there will be a minimum of two more that you will learn. Now, while this may sound like a lot, realize that most ninja know at least dozens or even hundreds of jutsu. In fact, I believe there is a ninja in this village who knows 1000 jutsu. And don't forget, if you ever find yourself struggling to learn a jutsu, we'll be here to give you all the help you need" explained Ebisu.

"Ebisu-sensei, what exactly are these jutsu we need to learn?" asked one student.

"Yes, well is there anyone who can name the three jutsu that all of you will be learning?" asked Ebisu.

"I believe they are the Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Jutsu), Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Jutsu), and Kawarmi no Jutsu (Replacement/Substitution Jutsu)" said Sakura.

"Correct again" said Ebisu. "Now, don't panic if you can't answer this question, but is there anyone here who can perform one of these three?"

This time, Sakura's hand did not go up. However, Naruto and Sasuke's did. "Yes, Sasuke and Naruto. Why don't the two of you come up here and show us?" asked Ebisu. The two came to the front of the class. "Now, which jutsus do the two of you know."

"Just the Henge no Jutsu" replied Sasuke.

"Still, its impressive that the two of you know a jutsu at your age. Who knows, we could have the next Itachi in this class" said Ebisu. Naruto caught the twitch in Sasuke's eye. While he still loved and admired Itachi, Sasuke hated being compared to his older brother. "Now, could the two of you please perform the jutsu? Perhaps transform into your favorite instructor?"

"Henge!" shouted both Naruto and Sasuke as they transformed into Ebisu, for Sasuke, and Iruka, for Naruto.

"Now class, the Henge is a basic genjutsu where you disguise yourself as someone else" explained Ebisu as he went into how you were just covered in a chakra shroud that gave you the appearance of what you transformed into.

"This is a genjutsu? I thought you said it was ninjutsu and that we actually transformed into them?" asked Sasuke to Naruto.

"Yeah, I thought so too" replied Naruto. He could have sworn that the transformations he always did were real, not a genjutsu.

"I'm sorry boys, but it's just…huh?" said Ebisu as he tried to slide his hand through the 'illusions', only to be stopped by a solid body. "B-but t-t-that's i-impossible…" said Ebisu. Naruto was pretty sure that Ebisu's brain broke as he was frozen in spot.

"Iruka-sensei?" asked a confused Naruto.

"You both know that's a true Henge, which is a physical transformation, and what you just performed is a jonin-level technique?" asked Iruka.

"It is?! Wow, we're awesome!" shouted Naruto. It was at that time that he got his first taste of what would soon haunt him throughout the academy. The female population was screaming either 'Sasuke you're amazing!' or 'You're so cool, Naruto!'. Yes, that's right…the fangirls were beginning to emerge. Naruto and Sasuke both grinned, completely oblivious to what was going on.

While Ebisu's brain rebooted, Iruka demonstrated the other two jutsu of the Academy 3. "Iruka-sensei" called out Ino. "You said that there were then two other jutsu that we had to learn? Which ones are these?"

"Glad you asked that…Ino is it?" asked Iruka. Ino nodded. "Sorry, this is my first day and it'll take me a day or two to get all of your names. Anyways, the remaining two jutsu are completely up to you to decide. If you belong to a clan, there is a good chance they could be clan jutsu and there is also a large selection of simple jutsu in the Konoha Library. Most ninja tend to specialize in certain types of jutsu and we use these two jutsu to see what kind of ninja you'll become. Don't worry, you won't be graded on which two you select, just pick something that interests you. Now I don't suppose there are any of you who know any other jutsu besides the Academy 3?"

Once again, Naruto and Sasuke raised their hands, along with…well no one else. There was already talk going between the girls on what jutsu they knew and who's was cooler.

"Would the two of you mind demonstrating?" asked Iruka.

"Umm…can we go outside?" asked Sasuke. Iruka looked at the raven-haired student, wondering what jutsu would require them to go outside.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu! (Great Fireball Jutsu)" shouted Sasuke as he shot a large fireball at one of the training posts outside the academy, burning it to ashes.

"Sasuke! You're the best!" shouted about half of the female students.

"Wow…just, wow…a 7 year-old being able to use a fire-jutsu…" said Iruka in amazement. It was a good thing Ebisu was still inside or his brain might have crashed yet again. "Any ways, very impressive Sasuke. Naruto, your turn."

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow Clone Jutsu)" shouted Naruto as half a dozen Narutos popped into existence. A few of the girls were busy contemplating the possibilities of more than one Naruto.

"Iruka-sensei, what's the big deal? All he did was do a clone jutsu" said a boy in the class, who Naruto recognized as Hibachi from the previous timeline, trying to discredit Naruto. If he remembered correctly Hibachi was one of the kids who never liked Naruto and sent him off into the back hills to find a corpse, only to come face-to-face with a group of Taki ninja.

"_Shadow clones?...He's only 7…how?"_ thought Iruka. "Where did you get that jutsu from, Naruto?"

"The Forbidden Scroll" said Naruto with a big grin plastered on his face, saying it as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Just…never mind" said Iruka. "Great…not only can they use a jonin-level transformation, but one can use elemental chakra manipulation and the other can use a kinjutsu like its nothing."

"So Sensei, what's up. I mean Naruto just used a normal clone jutsu, didn't he?" asked the same boy again.

"No, that's not a normal Bunshin no Jutsu" said Iruka. "The normal bunshin only creates corporeal copies, or images. What Naruto used was the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. This jutsu actually creates actual physical clones that can do anything the original can. But it requires a lot of chakra to use."

"Well, I have always had larger chakra reserves than normal" said Naruto with a big grin.

"I'm…not even going to ask" said Iruka. "Anyways, looks like I'll be taking over until Ebisu-sensei is…mentally fit to resume teaching again."

Iruka took the class back inside and went over one of the basic lectures regarding chakra. As Naruto and Sasuke left the class, they had this feeling…almost like they were being followed. They didn't get much further than the gates of the academy before they turned around to see a mob of the greatest evil on the planet…yes fangirls.

"_Oh great…now Sasuke's got fangirls to worry about"_ thought Naruto, completely oblivious, that is until…

"Oh Naruto-kun, we just want to show you how amazing you are" called out one of the girls.

"Sasuke-kun, I can't believe how hot you were today" said another girl.

"_Crap"_ both Nauto and Sasuke thought simultaneously.

"_Why are they coming after me? All the girls used to hate me…oh right, Hokage's son and not the Kyuubi brat"_ realized Naruto. "Sasuke?"

"Just…run" said Sasuke. Itachi had warned him about the horrors of fangirls. It apparently was another thing that ran in the family for the Uchiha…the tall dark and handsome look that drove the girls wild. And for Naruto, no one could resist the glowing blonde hair, the cerulean eyes, or the fact that he looked like an exact clone of Konoha's greatest hero.

Naruto and Sasuke began taking off, away from the mob only for Naruto to get caught by the hood of his sweatshirt. "Gagh!" he shouted. They had him…almost. Sasuke grabbed a shuriken and used it to cut off the hood of Naruto's shirt. "Hey! That was my favorite shirt!"

"Less complaining about clothes, more running!" shouted Sasuke as the two took off at speeds that would make even the Yellow Flash jealous with the ravenous mob of fan girls right behind them.

"_N-naruto-kun…"_ thought a certain blue-haired Hyuga from a distance. What was it about Naruto that captured her attention? Sure, he was a joke-loving, funny kid, who was loved by just about everyone for being the son of Konoha's greatest hero, but there was something more to him. Something more, deep down that he tried to hide. The Naruto that everyone knew…was nothing more than a mask. She could see the real Naruto through those bright cerulean blue eyes of his, and that Naruto knew the pain and suffering that came with being alone, with losing someone close to you. The same pain she experienced a few years ago when her mother passed away after having complications from delivering Hanabi.

As Naruto and Sasuke were running from their very first mob of fangirls, the two ducked into a alley way where they were able to take to the roof thanks to the chakra climbing technique that Naruto had taught Sasuke in. As the mob of fangirls looked up, they found themselves mad that Naruto and Sasuke were getting away from them.

However, they turned on each other as they realized that they still had that hood that Sasuke had to cut off of Naruto's shirt in order to save the blonde. Naruto and Sasuke were then unable to slip away completely unnoticed, with the exception of a few laughing ANBU watching the whole thing, as the girls fought over their prize.

"I think we're clear" said Sasuke.

"_I can't believe it. I actually have fangirls? This is going to be a tough few years in the academy"_ sighed Naruto. Despite hating Sasuke for taking all the attention of the girls in the previous timeline, Naruto also saw how the Uchiha loathed them and how they constantly pestered him. While he constantly wished that even some of them would pay just the slightest attention to him or at the very least, one of them, particularly a certain pinkette, the last thing he wanted was a fan club.

Both Naruto and Sasuke made their way towards the Uchiha compound, which was the closest structure to where the two of them had been chased to. Walking into the compound the two of them received a few looks from Sasuke's family, in particular Itachi.

"What happened to the two of you? You look like you've ridden a wild boar through the middle of a monsoon" commented Mikoto as she went to clean up the dirty and panting boys.

"Crazy…ravenous…monsters" said Naruto, in between breaths.

"I see. I figured it was getting close to that time" said Itachi, picking up on the condition of the boys, in particular the missing hood on Naruto's jacket that looked like it was ripped off. Itachi was right. It was getting to that point where girls were slowly getting over the 'cootie phase' and were beginning to have romantic fantasies about Prince Charming and ninja in shining armor and stuff like that.

"Naruto-kun, would you like to stay for a little?" offered Mikoto.

"Thank you, Mikoto-san, but I really have to get going" said Naruto as he bowed and left the compound. Before doing so, he whispered into Sasuke's ear. "If you can, pay really close attention to the ANBU's uniform tomorrow morning." Naruto left snickering with a grin on his face.

* * *

Minato was taking a walk through the village the following morning to check on how things were running. As he took a turn onto a rather empty street, he found himself surrounded by about six of his ANBU agents, cloaked. "Is there a problem here?" he asked in a serious tone.

"Well sir, there is…but…" said a cat-masked ANBU with a bit of hesitation in his voice. "Can we speak in private?"

Minato nodded and Hiraishined back to his office with the ANBU arriving a few seconds later via Shunshin. "Now, what is the situation that requires my attention?" asked Minato.

"You see, we think someone broke into the ANBU HQ last night" said one of the ANBU.

"What makes you say that? ANBU HQ is one of the most secure locations in the village. I don't see how anyone could have broken in without notice. How could you THINK someone broke in?" replied Minato. "Did they take anything?"

"No, sir. Not that we know of" replied the ANBU.

"Then why do you think someone broke in if nothing was out of place?" asked Minato.

"Should we just show him?" and eagle-masked ANBU said. The other two nodded. The three ANBU removed their cloaks, revealing that their armor had been dyed a bright pink. After about 20 seconds, Minato could no longer hold back his laughter. Somehow, the uniform of every ANBU in the village had been dyed pink. On that day, the ANBU black-ops were no more. They were now the ANBU pink-ops.

* * *

Later that evening, the entire Namikaze family was enjoying the first dinner they were able to have together in weeks, due to a long mission that Kushina had been assigned to. "So anything interesting happen while I was gone, sochi? (sochi=son)" Kushina asked Naruto.

"Not much, I mean we got this cool new teacher in school and we are starting shinobi classes now. And Sasuke and I are the only ones who know jutsu" said an excited Naruto.

"I see…" said Kushina, suspicious of something. "And what happened to your jacket?" Kushina pointed at Naruto's ripped hood.

"Oh well Sasuke and I kind of got attacked" said Naruto as fast as he could.

"WHAT?!" shouted Kushina, flaring some Kyuubi chakra in her system.

"Kushi-chan, you know how girls his age are" said Minato, trying to diffuse the situation.

"Huh? Oh, so is there a certain someone at school?" asked Kushina, instantly slipping into 'annoying-mom-mode'.

"What?! Mom, girls are icky!" responded Naruto. He may have had the mind of a young adult, but Naruto was smart enough to know that boys his age weren't supposed to be interested in girls. In fact, it wasn't until his time with Ero-Sennin that he truly became interested in girls. Sure there was Sakura, but he never truly began to understand how girls worked until then…and even then he was still clueless.

"Don't worry Kushi-chan, in a few years he'll be thinking otherwise" said Minato.

"Huh? But dad, you don't understand. These girls were monsters who wanted to eat me and Sasuke!" exaggerated Naruto. Minato and Kushina simply laughed at this.

"You know, that reminds me of poor Fugaku back in our days in the academy" reminisced Minato. It was not uncommon for some poor Uchiha to be singled out by a ravenous mob of fan girls during the academy days, however it appeared as if Naruto was getting his share of attention as well.

"Quit talking like that honey, you're making me feel old" replied Kishina with a very sadistic look on her face.

"W-what? Y-you old? You s-still look no older than twenty" said a fearful Minato. Naruto couldn't believe it, but he had found the one person who could make dad fear for his life. Shikamaru was right…mothers were troublesome.

"Anyways, the strangest thing happened today" said Minato, trying to change the subject. "Somehow, all the ANBU uniforms were dyed pink last night. No one knows of anyone who entered the ANBU HQ nor of anything that was taken or misplaced…strange."

It took everything he had for Naruto to resist laughing. About a minute later, Kushina was the first one to crack. "Oh my god! I remember doing that!" she laughed out.

"What?! You dyed the ANBU uniforms pink, mom?!" said a surprised Naruto.

"I did when I was in the academy. It was so funny watching what was supposed to be the stealthiest unit in the village run around in pink" said Kushina as she regained her breathing.

Naruto was stunned. He couldn't believe his mom was a prankster of that level. _"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I kind of want to pull a super awesome prank with my mom one of these days."_

Later that night, Naruto was getting ready for bed when his mom came in his room. "I'm impressed sochi, no one's been able to pull of something like that in years, but you've got a long way to go if you want to catch up to me" she said to Naruto.

"How did you know?" asked a dumbfounded Naruto.

"Please, I'm the only one who could pull off something like that. Or at least I was until someone inherited my genius" said Kushina, kissing Naruto goodnight on the forehead. She left the room and Naruto waited some time for the house to quiet down. After he was sure both mom and dad had gone to bed, he got out of his.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" he whispered, creating about a dozen shadow clones. "You guys know what to do, but be careful. If you even think you're going to be discovered, dispel yourselves immediately."

The clones nodded and left the house through the window in Naruto's room. Their destination…the Uchiha compound. If Naruto remembered correctly, it was only a month now until the date of the supposed Uchiha incident. So far, he had not managed to find a single piece of evidence hinting towards the attempted coup by the Uchiha in his father's study or even office. So far, so good, but one can never be certain. He now only had one place remaining to check and that was the Uchiha compound itself.

He was confident in his abilities to get inside and find something. After all, if he could sneak into ANBU and dye their uniforms pink, he certainly could sneak into a clan compound. If he was certain there was nothing in the Uchiha compound, then there was a very good chance that the massacre would never happen and Sasuke wouldn't go off the deep end. Not to mention, Itachi wouldn't have to give up his life like he did in the previous timeline.

Throughout the night, he received memories from his clones. At around 4:00am, the final clone dispelled. That clone had somehow managed to make it in the secret room that he had found out about from Tobi in the previous timeline. Nothing. There was nothing on an impending coup in that room and if any room had something on a coup, it was that room.

It was becoming increasingly clear to Naruto that by preventing the Kyuubi attack from the very beginning, he had prevented the seeds of hatred within the Uchiha clan from growing to the breaking point. There was really nothing more that he could do without exposing himself, which would most likely result in some quality time with Inoichi. So he did the one thing that he had left to do…hope. Hope that the massacre never came and hope that Sasuke would still remain the Sasuke he was right now.

* * *

Beneath Konoha's sewers,

Danzo was sitting in some sort of private room, contemplating everything that had been happening. Over the past years since Minato took over the seat of Hokage, he found himself and his Root organization unable to operate. He needed to find some way to regain the control he once had under the Sandaime's reign, but since his underhanded tactics to slowly wrestle power had begun to fail, the only way he could think to regain control would be through some sort of coup 'de eta. The only problem with this is even he didn't think his Root forces could match the power of the Yellow flash. It was becoming more and more accepted recently that Minato had surpassed his predecessor, the so-called God of Shinobi, in strength and skill.

Danzo was now standing in front of his entire Root operation, ready to address them on their next step. "As you are all aware, our operations have been under fire ever since the coming of the Yellow Flash. Our strength has begun to wane and Konoha has entered a stage of false security. This will evidently lead to the downfall of the Yellow Flash and the destruction of Konoha. Konoha must be reminded of this and where their strength truly lies, and we will be the ones to do so" announced Danzo. "If Konoha is to survive, we must be the ones. The ones to show Konoha just how far its fallen and we must be the ones to pull it out of the darkness. However, because of the Hokage's actions, we do not possess the strength to do so at this point in time."

"Danzo-sama. What is it you suggest we do?" asked one of his agents.

"As much as I hate it, our only option is to leave Konoha for some time" announced Danzo, creating stirs within his organization. "Silence! I know what some of you are thinking and no, we are not abandoning Konoha. Once we are gone, we will wait for the opportune time to return. The time when the Yellow Flash dooms Konoha. That will be the time when we come to return Konoha to its former glory! You have all received your assignments that are necessary for or operation to begin, now go!"

Danzo motioned to a squad of his agents. "Terai, Shin, Dajimu, there is a specific operation that I require your abilities for. There is a certain power that Konoha possesses that we cannot afford leave in their hands."

"When shall you require our services, Danzo-sama?" asked Shin.

"For now, prepare. That will be our final act before we begin our operation" said Danzo.

"Hai!" all three Root ANBU exclaimed as they left to their preparations.

* * *

Jutsu List

Henge no Jutsu - Transformation Technique (Rank: E, B for Naruto and Sasuke)

Bunshin no Jutsu - Clone Jutsu (Rank: E)

Kawarmi no Jutsu - Substitution Technique (Rank: E)

Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu - Great Fireball Technique (Rank: C)

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Jutsu (Rank: B)

Shunshin no Jutsu – Body Flicker Technique (Rank D)

Hiraishin no Jutsu – Flying Thunder god Technique (Rank S)

* * *

Author Notes

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

So Iruka is still a teacher, even if he is only just an assistant at the moment. Naruto and Sasuke have begun to experience the horrors of fan girls, and trust me that was only a small look at what is yet to come. I have also begun to bring back Naruto's pranks and as you could see, he's getting into the much bigger stuff now, not just the silly classroom jokes.

Everything looks to be clear with the Uchiha clan, but it appears as if Danzo is up to something.

For those of you who don't want me to stay in the academy too much longer, I am honestly trying to get through it as quick as I can without sacrificing important stuff, and some humor. As such, I do estimate about 7-8 more chapters in the academy before I move on. This number may change, but that is my guess at this moment.

On Time Travel,

One thing that needs to be considered with time travel is that one change can completely twist the events of the original timeline until they become completely separate. While some events are just destined to still occur, others occur in different ways or just never occur at all, while completely new events and plotlines arise as well. This is one element that I will try to bring into this story. Yes, there are certain events that I want to try and recreate as best as I can that were in the original timeline, but they will still be different as compared to cannon. The one thing you have to keep in mind before you begin wondering 'why did he do that?' is that this is no longer the original timeline. Everything has changed, even if it doesn't seem like it just yet. The most visible difference and the one that will have the biggest impact between is simple…Minato is still alive.

Any ways, that was just a short explanation to get you thinking for now. Hope you enjoyed. Things will begin to move a little faster (or at least get more entertaining I hope) in the next chapter.

Please Review/Comment


	10. Chapter 10: Safe

Well, here it is. Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. I've been a little busy in real life and finishing up my other story (will begin the sequel to that one very soon) and I also kind of hit a small block while writing this, although that has resolved itself.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto

Posted: 3/3/13

* * *

**Chapter 10: Safe**

Naruto heard a light knock on his door as his mother entered. "Naruto-kun, time to get up. You don't want to be late for school" called out Kushina.

"Uhg…" groaned Naruto as he rolled around groggily in his bed before promptly falling back asleep. He was exhausted as the previous night had been a busy one for him.

Flashback (3 nights ago)

"_So based on everything that I've found, it looks like the Uchiha incident isn't going to occur"_ thought Naruto. For nearly the past year, he had been sending out transformed clones to try and gather information on the Uchiha clan. A few days ago, he made one last attempt to gather information by sending a clone to infiltrate the Uchiha compound directly and enter the secret meeting room beneath the clan hall. He found nothing. No information that hinted towards the Uchiha's coup de eta. As of now, he was pretty confident that by stopping the Kyuubi attack, he had stopped the Uchiha massacre. There was nothing more that he could do now that wouldn't blow the biggest secret that he ever had…that he was a time-traveler.

All he could do now was pray that the Uchiha weren't foolish enough to try and revolt against the village. It only helped that his mother and Mikoto were good friends and that his dad and the leader of the Uchiha got along well, seeing as they were on a squad together with Hyuga Hizashi in the previous war. As far as he was convinced, the Uchiha Massacre only happened in the previous timeline.

"_So nothing. Hmm…now what do I do?" _thought Naruto. Now that the Uchiha problem was taken care of, or at least the best he could do, he was now at a loss of what he should do. Of course there was a lot that he needed to do, but nothing major was going to happen for at least 4-5 years.

At that time in the previous timeline was when everything began to go downhill. That was when he took the chunin exams for the first time and Orochimaru reared his ugly face. Orochimaru drove Sasuke from the village and Akatsuki began to make its move.

"_So let's see. I shouldn't have to worry about Orochimaru until the first chunin exams, which is about four years away, and Akatsuki won't start coming after me for about 5 years. But then again, will I have to worry about Akatsuki? I mean I don't have that overgrown Furball sealed in my gut…"_ thought Naruto. It was at that time though, that he realized something he wished he didn't. "…Mom…"

That's right, Kushina was the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi this time around, not him. But that didn't put him at ease one bit. If anything, that made Naruto worry more. Akatsuki would actually be coming after his mother. _"No! I can't let them get her! I finally got my parents back and there's no way in hell I'm going to lose them again!"_ thought Naruto. But what could he do? He didn't know how to stop Akatsuki at this point. In fact, it was still years before most people even heard the name Akatsuki. He knew what he needed to do. _"I must get stronger. That way, I can put an end to Akatsuki when they finally do show up and keep them from taking Mom away from me!"_

With that, Naruto made a shadow clone to cover for him just in case something arose in the house while he left to go stake out a training ground where he knew he wouldn't be bothered. Already, he knew where he was going. It was the one place in Konoha where he could work on higher-level skills without anyone bothering him…Training Ground 44, the Forest of Death.

It took about 30 minutes for him to sneak through Konoha and arrive there. He snuck through an opening in one of the fences and proceeded a little into the training ground, being extra cautious not to set off some sort of trap or anger a dangerous animal. Finally, Naruto came to a clearing which was maybe half a kilometer in, far enough in to cover the training yet to come, but close enough to the edge to be safe.

"_So what can I do? I've got the __Henge__. That was probably the first thing I was able to do, and it's not that lame genjutsu version either. Hell, I can't believe that the __Henge__ was actually a genjutsu to begin with. The look on Ebisu-sensei's face was priceless and Sasuke seemed happy after his dad found out he could use the high-level __Henge__" thought Naruto. "I can do the __Kawarmi__, even though I decided not to show that one off in school. I don't want to look like I'm too far ahead of everyone. I still can't do a normal __Bunshin no Jutsu__ to save my life though. It sounds like I got a lot of chakra just from coming back in time, about as much as I used to have when I graduated I guess, and I'll probably need Bachan's level of control to even be able to do those, but it doesn't matter since my __Kagebunshin no Jutsu__ works perfectly fine. I can do tree climbing and water walking. So what came after that?"_

Naruto thought for a little, trying to remember everything he did in the previous timeline. _"So after that, I met Ero-Sennin and learned how to summon. That's probably out for now seeing as I haven't signed the Toad Contract. Then I left with Ero-Sennin to track down Baa-chan and he taught me the __Rasengan__. Hmm…yeah, the __Rasengan's__ definitely next them. The next major training I did was when I left with Ero-Sennin on the three year training trip, which now that I think of it, I really didn't get too much accomplished. Sure I developed the __Odama Rasengan__, but that was really about it. When I got back, then I learned about wind manipulation from Kakashi-sensei and developed the __Futon: Rasengan__ and __Rasenshuriken__. Hmm…oh it'd be so cool if I could still do those. The __Futon: Rasengan__ is definitely doable, but I'll need Sage-mode to use the __Rasenshuriken__ in combat, and I'm not even going to attempt that until I get the Toad Scroll. I don't want to be turning into a stone frog statue anytime soon. And I can't just go asking for someone to supervise me, because that would draw too much attention"_ Naruto deliberated for a bit longer before coming up with a decision. _"Okay, __Rasengan __for now and then I'll work on wind manipulation. Once I do that, I can make the __Futon: Rasengan__ and work on the __Rasenshuriken__ so that I can use it the moment I get the Toad Contract and can start asking Sennin Ji-chan-sensei (Fukasaku) to watch me work on Sage-mode."_

With that, Naruto set out to begin training on the Rasengan. After a few hours, he wasn't getting anywhere. The Rasengan kept exploding in his hands whenever he tried to stabilize it. As he made his way back home for the night, he was thinking on how to do the Rasengan. From the looks of things, his control wasn't quite there yet. He figured he would just have to start from the beginning, starting with the water balloon. Hopefully his dad wouldn't notice the missing water balloons or rubber balls from the house.

After two nights, Naruto had managed to perform a successful Rasengan with the aid of a shadow clone; however, he wasn't going to stop there this time. He realized that if he truly wanted to master that jutsu, he would have to be able to do it with one hand and so he started over from the very beginning, using only one hand.

*End Flashback*

"_Well, at least I was able to get through step two with only one hand"_ thought Naruto as he drifted back to sleep. _"I'll get that jutsu down tonight with only one hand, -ttebayo!" _

"NAMIKAZE NARUTO! GET YOUR SORRY ASS DOWN HERE BEFORE YOU'RE LATE FOR THE ACADEMY OR SO HELP ME…!"

After hearing the yelling from his mother, Naruto was down and ready to go in a speed that would have rivaled that of Minato's Hiraishin. _"Shikamaru's right, mothers are troublesome"_ thought Naruto, shivering in fear at his mother, who's hair was now resembling 9 tails.

"Don't worry Honey, I'll just flash Naruto to school. It's no big deal" said Minato.

"No big deal?!" replied Kushina. "Are you trying to encourage him to become lazy?"

Minato gulped as Kushina reached for one of the kitchen knives. "GET OVER HERE NAMIKAZE AND SCRUB EVERY SEAL OFF OF THIS HOUSE BEFORE I CASTRATE YOUR LAZY ASS!" Before things could get any uglier in the house that morning, Naruto had left. For probably the first time in both of his lives, he was glad to be going to school.

"Ohayo, Iruka-sensei!" said Naruto, greeting Iruka. Ebisu hadn't come in and Naruto was pretty sure he wouldn't be in all day.

"Good morning class. I'm sorry to say that Ebisu-sensei won't be coming into class today as he has to deal with a few pipes in his apartment complex that are leaking paint" said Iruka, not quite believe what he was actually saying either. Had anyone looked towards Naruto, they would have noticed the big grin plastered on the blonde's face. "Anyways class, for today we'll begin discussing the Second Shinobi War and many of the tactics used that ultimately led to our victory. After lunch will be physical exercises and weapons practice."

Iruka began going over his lecture as Naruto tried to listen in. Besides what Iruka was lecturing on, he was also thinking on how he would get the Rasengan down later tonight, other potential pranks, and hoping his dad wouldn't get caught by his mother.

Lunch time came, and as usual, Naruto and Sasuke found themselves assaulted by a mob of fan-girls all wanting to eat lunch with them. Thankfully, there was a rather tall tree in the school courtyard that didn't have any low-hanging branches (not that the fan-girls didn't have the upper body strength to climb trees anyways) and Naruto and Sasuke both knew the tree-climbing technique. The two were enjoying their lunch atop the higher branches of the trees as the fan-girls just sat at the base like a pack of rabid dogs (no offence to Akamaru) who had just chased a squirrel up the tree.

After lunch was physical exercises followed by shuriken practice. The exercises were beginning to get a little more intense and it was becoming obvious that the fan-girl's dieting were beginning to take a toll on their physical performance.

"Okay class, who wants to demonstrate their shuriken skills" asked Iruka.

"Me!"

"I'll do it!"

"Umm…Shino, you're up" called out Iruka.

"That would be unwise, sensei" said Shino as a few bugs began to emerge from under his coat, creeping out a few of the people around. "Because you see, the Aburame…"

"Uhg, never mind. Just go Sasuke" said Iruka, placing the palm of his hand on his forehead.

"Yay! Sasuke-kun!" squealed some of the girls.

"Pft. Why is it always Sasuke-kun this, Sasuke-kun that?" scoffed Hibachi.

"_Why does this seem familiar?"_ thought Naruto, looking over at Hibachi. Sasuke just 'hn-ed' and walked up to the line where he grabbed eight shuriken in both hands. After pausing for a moment, he threw all of them so that they landed smack-dab in a straight line along the center of the post.

"Sasuke-kun's so cool!" squealed some more fan-girls.

"Bah! What's so great about Suckske?" said Hibachi. "I'll show you!" (1)

He grabbed a few shuriken and lined up at the line, throwing them. None of them hit their mark and one was even imbedded in a tree, mere inches away from a shaking Iruka's head. _"Weird, I'm almost positive I've seen this before"_ thought Naruto.

"Heh, sorry about that. Let me go again, I'll show you just how great I can be!" proclaimed Hibachi.

"Back in line, Hibachi" growled Iruka. "Now I want the rest of you to pair off and practice. I'll be around to check your progress."

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Naruto-kun!"

The mob of fan-girls began to swarm their respective deity, but thankfully Iruka was able to put a stop to it. _"Honestly, this really is starting to get frustrating. Everyday these girls…it's just…uhg!" _thought Iruka. "Sasuke, Naruto, just got together for today."

"So who shall we do today?" asked Sasuke.

"I don't know…hmm. I've got it!" said Naruto whispering something in Sasuke's ear.

"We're going to need a bigger post to do that on" said Sasuke.

"I know, the fence should serve just nicely" said Naruto. "Besides, it might be an improvement after what Hibachi did to it."

After a few minutes Iruka began making his rounds. "Not bad Chouji…Almost had it Kiba…Shikamaru, wake up will ya?"

"Troublesome…" yawned Shikamaru.

He then came to Naruto and Sasuke to find an empty post. "Okay, what are you two up to today?"

"Just ten more minutes, we're almost done Iruka-sensei" said Naruto. Iruka sighed and moved on.

"Hibachi, stop playing around, you're going to take someone's eye out" said Iruka to Hibachi, who was playing with a kunai, that is until he lost control of it.

"Ow! My eye!" screamed another kid. Iruka sighed.

"Hibachi, that's enough for one day" he said before taking Hibachi's poor victim to the infirmary. About 10 minutes later, Iruka returned to see Naruto and Sasuke putting the finishing touches on their masterpiece.

On the fence behind the training post was a chibi Minato lying on the ground, defeated and beaten with crossed-out eyes and a lump on his head and a chibi Kushina with a victorious look on her face, her fingers making a 'V' in one hand and the other hand holding a rolling pin. Naruto put the final finishing touches on the portrait with the Hiraishin kunai his dad gave him, landing it square on the collapsed Minato's ass.

"You know Naruto, Hokage-sama's the most powerful ninja in the village. I doubt he could be defeated by a rolling pin" said Iruka.

"Clearly you don't know my mother" replied Naruto. Iruka just sighed again and tried to hold back a slight laugh as he pulled out a camera to take a picture of today's 'shuriken painting'. So far, he had ones of Jiriaya, Kakashi, himself, Tsunade, Gamabunta, and a pig (Iruka didn't know Tonton yet).

* * *

"Come on…just a little…"

"Boom!"

Naruto was thrown back as the Rasengan destabilized in his hand. "Damnit! Come on, one more time!"

He held out his hand and began forming the Rasengan again. "Okay…now just focus" said Naruto as the blue sphere began to form and condense and the chakra began to spin faster. "Hold it…just a little more…almost..." He began to concentrate even harder to keep the Rasengan stable as he began to compress the chakra one last time. The point came and went where Naruto was expecting to be thrown back. When he opened his eyes, the Rasengan was stable and sitting in his hands.

Naruto grinned as he eyed a nearby tree and ran towards it. "Rasengan!" shouted Naruto as he slammed the Rasengan into the tree, tearing through the truck of the once mighty tree. He just barely moved out of the way in time to avoid the tree from falling on top of him. Naruto then fell back, exhausted, but satisfied.

"Heh, now I've got the Rasengan back. I think that'll be it for tonight. I'm tired" said Naruto before wearily making his way back to his house. Now that he had the Rasengan down, wind manipulation was next on his agenda, but that would wait until the next day and he was pretty sure he could do some of that training at home as a leaf was a lot less conspicuous than a Rasengan.

* * *

It was the night, three weeks after he completed the Rasengan. Tonight was the fateful night. It was the night where Itachi would supposedly murder his clan. Naruto was pretty sure that he was in the clear, but he wanted to be absolutely sure. He made his way out of his house, leaving a clone to cover for him in his bed, as he dashed towards the Uchiha compound. Despite finding nothing on the massacre, he couldn't be absolutely certain and had to make sure that nothing bad happened.

Upon arriving at the compound, Naruto took up a position in one of the nearby trees, suppressing his chakra as best he could, and waited. The compound was quiet, with the only movement being the routine patrol that walked through the streets. There were no signs of an impending coup, no signs of a massacre, no blood…nothing.

As time passed, Naruto saw the one person he really wanted to keep an eye on, Itachi, walk up to the door of his house. Itachi was just returning from a mission and Naruto tensed up.

"Itachi, welcome back" said a feminine voice that was most likely his mother. "How was the mission?"

Naruto watched through a window as Itachi began to remove his ANBU gear, but froze when he saw Itachi looking directly towards him.

"_Shit, I think he's spotted me"_ thought Naruto.

"Itachi? Is everything okay?" asked Mikoto.

Itachi took another look out the window towards Naruto before turning back to his mother. "Yes mother, everything's fine." Itachi closed the window to ensure that any observers couldn't watch. Naruto let out a slight sigh, but kept his guard up as this was Itachi he was dealing with.

By the time dawn came, Naruto realized that he was in the clear. No one had been killed that night, at least not on the Uchiha compound…the T&I Department was another story, knowing how Ibiki was. Before activity could pick up as the day began, Naruto left, hoping to get back to his house before…

"NAMIKAZE NARUTO! GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUT OF BED THIS INSTANCE!"

…before that.

* * *

For the rest of the week, Naruto had clones keep tabs on the Uchiha compound, making sure that nothing out of the ordinary happened. To Naruto's satisfaction, nothing did happen. He saw no signs of an impending coup or massacre and by the end of the week, he was sure that he was in the clear and the assignment of shadow clones to watch over the compound ended.

Naruto had made his way back to the Forest of Death to continue with his training. He had made good progress with wind chakra, although he hit a little snag when he realized that he didn't have a waterfall to cut. As a result, after he finished with the leaf, Naruto began to work his way up through sticks of various sizes.

The shadow clone training method was simply amazing for training and Naruto also found out that he had much better chakra control this time around, due the fact that he didn't have to focus most of his control on keeping the Kyuubi's chakra at bay, although it wasn't anywhere near perfect. He still had massive chakra reserves as a result from bringing his yin chakra back with him through time. At first when he came back, he notices that there were some weird chakra fluctuations within him, partially due to his body rapidly adjusting to the sudden influx of chakra and also due to the fact that a majority of the chakra was yin-based. While his parents didn't notice, the first few months of his life had fluctuations of pain as the yin and yang chakra within him tried to balance one another out (2).

Despite the rough start, his chakra had stabilized and he had a lot of it by this point in time, something he was grateful for. Of course, he also realized that he had a bloodline, one that he originally thought was the Kyuubi's doing. While training his wind element, Naruto immediately began thinking…the reason he couldn't use the normal Rasenshuriken in the original timeline was because it tore up his arm, but if his bloodline was perfect healing, then did that mean his arm would fully recover each and every time? He would have to ask his mom to explain to him how exactly the bloodline worked and if it was in fact possible for him to use the Rasenshurikien without any permanent drawback.

* * *

A few more days passed as normal. Naruto was coming home from the Academy, after he and Sasuke escaped the mob of horny fan-girls. Sadly, his mom was out on a mission, although she would be getting home later, and his dad had a late meeting with the council, something about the civilian council being unhappy about the standards at the Academy being raised. Naruto really didn't see what the big deal was. Ever since the shinobi side of the village took back control of the academy, all they had done was eliminate some of the less important subjects, restructure the history taught in the class so that it focused on ninja history and strategies used in war, something Shikamaru was actually awake for, made the physical conditioning more strenuous, required the students to learn a few extra jutsu besides the Academy 3, and a lot of other stuff that would have better prepared them for their future as a genin.

On his way up to his room to drop his stuff off, Naruto noticed that his dad's study door was open slightly and sadly…curiosity had gotten the better of him.

"_You know, I came in here once or twice to see what sort of cool jutsu dad had, but I never really had time to look"_ he thought as he went over to one of the bookshelves and grabbed a book titled 'Fundamentals of Fuinjutsu'. _"Fuinjutsu? That's right! My dad's a seal master, so is mom, and so is Ero-Sennin. Dad's told me a little about seals, but I've never really known what exactly they are all about?"_

Naruto immediately began reading through the large book. While it would have sounded very boring and textbook-like to most people, Naruto was immediately drawn to the subject. He had never realized that fuinjutsu was this interesting.

"Man, if they had taught this kind of stuff at the academy, I wouldn't skip class so often…" said Naruto to himself. He was glad no one was in the room, or so he thought.

"What's this about skipping class?" Naruto immediately stiffened and turned around to see his dad looking down at him. Apparently, he was so into the fuinjutsu book that he lost track of time and Minato's office was where Minato would normally Hiraishin to when he came home.

"Umm… hey dad, how was that meeting?" asked Naruto.

"It was good. You know, there are a lot of changes being made to the Academy curriculum that you shouldn't SKIP" retorted Minato. Naruto just grinned innocently. "Furthermore, what are you doing in my study? Didn't I tell you not to go in here without myself or your mother?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Naruto, I don't mind if you eventually learn the stuff in here as I plan to teach it all to you someday as a father, but there are a lot of jutsus in here that could get you killed if you don't know what to do" said Minato. "Now, what did you get into this time?" He took the book from Naruto's hands and immediately realized it was one of the first books Jiraiya-sensei gave him when he was teaching him fuinjutsu.

"Well, I guess this one isn't that bad" said Minato, handing the book back to Naruto. _"I suppose it is time I start teaching him. After all, both myself and Kushi are seal-masters."_

"Hey dad, how come they don't teach this stuff in the academy?" asked Naruto.

"Hmm…well, fuinjutsu is an incredibly difficult and complex, yet powerful art that only few ever master" said Minato. He had given Naruto a brief introduction to seals before, but he never really started teaching his son. "Your mother and I being two of the very few seal masters in this world."

"Really?! Hey dad, think you could show me how to make a few seals?" asked Naruto. This was immediately turning from something he should have gotten in trouble for, to him getting something that would only make him stronger.

"I don't see why not. Your mother and I were going to start teaching you at some point, so we might as well start now" said Minato.

* * *

"Okay class, before we begin, I've got a few announcements to make" said Iruka. It was maybe a month since the supposed 'Uchiha Massacre', although no Uchiha's had been killed in at least 4, and that was because of a freak accident on a mission (Naruto had somehow managed to get into the mission records…again).

"First, I will be taking over as your full time teacher. It appears as if Ebisu-senpai has been offered a full-time private tutoring position and he has accepted" said Iruka. Most of the class cheered. While they really didn't hate Ebisu-sensei, they found that he could be rather boisterous and annoying at times. Besides, they all liked Iruka-sensei much better.

"_Poor Konohamaru"_ thought Naruto. If it was anything like last time, Ebisu was probably hired to begin teaching Konohamaru, who should be turning 6 pretty soon and begin his training. Naruto on the other hand, was maybe 4 months from turning 9. _"Speaking of which, I should go find him some time, I kind of miss hanging out with him."_

Still, Naruto was slightly disappointed that Ebisu would no longer be teaching. I mean, who was he supposed to prank now? His question was answered the moment a white-haired chunin walked through the door. _"Oh this is going to be fun. That bastard of a traitor has no idea what's coming…"_

Sasuke looked over to see THAT look on Naruto's face and he was already pitying the foolwho was on Naruto's hit-list of pranks. "Anyways class, I would like to introduce Mizuki, who will be acting as my assistant and assisting me with weapons and jutsu" announced Iruka as Mizuki quickly introduced himself. "Lastly, we will be having a late exercise tomorrow evening to help teach you some survival skills. While these exercises last overnight for some of the older students, you will only be here until around 11 or 12 at night. After which, you will have the following day off to reflect on what you were taught. We will be holding these exercises all day Friday, so come to class prepared on that day."

* * *

The training exercise really was nothing too difficult or special. It was merely a series of instructions on camping and surviving in the outdoors, something that would be necessary for extended missions. Tonight was just instruction and the real outdoor survival exercises would begin in a few months, once the instructors felt the students knew what was necessary.

They were let out around 11 or 12 at night and Naruto and Sasuke proceeded to make their way towards the Uchiha compound, which was on the way to Naruto's house. It was a rather calm night, no clouds and the stars were brightly shining in the night sky. The entire village had practically shut down for the night with the exception of a few necessary buildings. It was quiet…almost too quiet.

Naruto and Sasuke were discussing some of the things that they went over in class when they approached the Uchiha compound and a blood-filled scream ripped through the air, followed by another.

* * *

"I guess that's enough for one night. Naruto should be home any minute now" said Kushina, quietly to herself. She had set down a book that she had been reading, waiting for her son to return home from the academy's late-night exercises. Minato was also busy tonight with a lot of work (not the type shadow clones could so sadly). He was busy tonight finishing up the initial draft of the treaty that would be approved by the Konoha Council and then sent to Sunagakure to further strengthen the relationships between the two nations.

"Where is he? He should be home by now!" said a slightly frustrated Kushina as she made her way out of the house to see if Naruto was coming down the street. As she reached the road, three ANBU appeared in front of her.

"Uzumaki Kushina, you are to come with us immediately" said one of the ANBU.

* * *

Author Notes

1. For those of you who don't remember from the Konoha History arc directly after the Pein arc, Hibachi was one of the students in Naruto's class who picked on the poor blonde. He was also the one who sent Naruto out into the back hills (I don't exactly remember the name) to find a corpse, only for Naruto to be ambushed by a trio of Taki ninja. For the purposes of this story, he is basically the new class dead-last and is extremely jealous of Naruto and Sasuke getting all the attention.

2. The yin and yang chakras I'm referring to are not yin-release and yang-release. All chakra is originally divided into yin (spiritual) and yang (physical). There is also a constant changing of chakra going from yin to yang and yang to yin in order to balance the two parts out.

So that's that. Things are beginning to fall into motion.

Naruto has the Rasengan now and has begun trying to regain his Rasenshuriken. If you're asking why it only took him a few days, it was because of a few things. 1) he already knew how to do the Rasengan, so it was just a matter of getting a feel for his chakra and 2) shadow clones. While he may not be using as many clones as possible, he's still training using quite a few.

In terms of Naruto's reserves at this point, I would say that they are about as big as they were at the start of the anime (graduation). Also, in terms of age, Naruto is a few months from turning 9 and Sasuke is almost 9 as his birthday is about 3 months before Naruto's.

I know I haven't been talking too much about the rest of the Rookie 9 or Konoha 12, but they will be looked at further here in about 2-3 chapters.

And yes, Kushina is probably the only person in the Five Nations right now who could beat Minato.

Anyways, till next time.

Please review/comment.


	11. Chapter 11: The Fated Night

Sorry it took so long to get this out, the past month has just been extremely busy for me. Anyways, I'll start off by answering a few questions/comments.

1. Will Naruto be a brother? (I think this is one thing a lot of people have been wanting to know) I am thinking perhaps a miniature Kushina.

2. What will happen to Sai? He'll be in here, don't worry. Sai's just too funny to leave out.

3. What about Kurama and Naruto? It'll happen, eventually.

Well, that's kind of all I feel like answering for now. Onto the story!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…at least not until I figure out the whole time travel thing myself…**

Posted: 4/8/13

* * *

**Chapter 11: The Fated Night**

It was a calm and quiet night all throughout Konoha. The skies were clear and the moon shone brightly. At first glimpse, it was rather peaceful and serene, but there was something wrong. For a ninja village, it seemed too quiet.

Two young boys were walking home from a late night survival exercise at the Academy. They had managed to slip away from the usual mob of fan-girls and were enjoying a conversation with one another. The blonde boy, who just so happened to have memories of a future he was trying to prevent, was also trying to contemplate how exactly he was going to prank his next victim, a rather unfortunate white-haired school teacher.

About a month ago, said blonde had managed to prevent a horrible event that befell his best friend in the previous timeline. The funny thing is that he didn't have to really do much to prevent it. All that he had to do was stop one event from happening, which just so happened to be the destruction of the village at the hands of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, or as he liked to call the giant furball, Kurama, almost nine years ago. Yes, Naruto wasn't the only time traveler. The Kyuubi had also traveled back with him as a last resort measure from the Fourth Shinobi War. Ever since coming back, Naruto was careful not to change too many things, or else he would be left in a world of uncertainty as to what would happen next. Well, as fate may have it, that uncertainty was about to bite his plans in the ass…hard.

The two friends, Namikaze Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, came within sight of the gates of the Uchiha Clan Compound and it was at that moment that a blood-filled scream of terror pierced through the crisp night air. Hearing the sounds the screaming coming from his own clan compound, Sasuke raced through the gates to see what was going on, leaving Naruto standing in the road hoping that what he was thinking was not happening not.

"Sasuke!" shouted Naruto as he tried to catch up with his friend. When Naruto finally caught up with Sasuke, he raven-haired boy was standing in the middle of the street, eyes widened in horror as he took in the scene around him.

Naruto's reaction mirrored Sasuke's…it was happening, the Uchiha Massacre was happening right in front of his own eyes. Looking around the streets of the compound, one could see bodies littering the sides with the blood flowing from the cuts, wounds, and slashes on them.

"_No…How?...I thought the date had passed"_ said Naruto to himself. _"Please tell me…Please tell me Dad didn't order the execution of the Uchihas. There was nothing going on this time around!"_

For a few seconds, Naruto could only help but to observe as the fated night repeated itself once again; however, a quick observation would have told anyone from the future that this wasn't the same as it was in the previous timeline. The first obvious difference was that there was more than just a single figure jumping across the rooftops, killing people. Naruto managed to catch a glimpse of one of these figures and he could instantly see that they were wearing ANBU masks with no insignias on them.

The second most noticeable difference came when a gigantic fireball came erupting out of one of the buildings, blasting one of the masked attackers into a wall across the street. This wasn't some mindless slaughter anymore…the Uchiha had begun to put up a resistance and were starting to fight back.

The last change, yet one which was more discrete and really only noticeable if one looked at the corpses long enough, was that some of them were missing their eyes.

About a hundred yards from where Sasuke and Naruto were standing, three Uchiha, one of which was Sasuke's father Uchiha Fugaku, had taken a stance against three of the masked attackers, Sharingan ablaze.

The masked attackers made the first move, charging into the Uchiha…big mistake. The Uchiha fighting style was specific to situations like this, where their opponents would make the first move and they would use their style, in conjunction with the hypnotic effect of the Sharingan, to quickly and effectively counter.

As was expected, the attackers were repelled with ease as they crumpled to the round, dead at the feet of Fugaku and his two comrades. Whatever was left of the once strong Uchiha clan now began to mount their counter-attack against the masked attackers, whose advantage of surprise had gone by this point in time. Still, that didn't mean that they weren't able to take good advantage of it. Before this night, the Uchiha clan had numbered just a little over 100 members and looking around the street, Naruto could easily count 50 bodies just lying there, and there was a good chance that there were more than just those scattered throughout the compound.

Fugaku and his two partners were doing well to stave off the invaders. Shortly after the initial assault, three more masked attackers threw themselves as the Uchiha, only to be cut down in a few swift strokes.

In less than a minute upon arriving at the compound, Naruto had witnessed what he had hoped to prevent in the first place, and the last thing he wanted to think was that his dad had ordered the attack. To the best of his knowledge, the Uchiha had never planned a revolt, not to mention that his dad and Sasuke's dad were rather close friends, having been on a team together along with Hizashi back in the day.

"Tousan!" shouted Sasuke as he caught sight of something materializing out of the air behind his father.

Fugaku instantly whipped his head around horrified that his youngest son was here. This was no place for a mere child. He was about to scream out to Sasuke, but saw immediately what Sasuke saw, a man materializing out of the air. A quick glance told both Fugaku and Naruto exactly who was behind the attack. The man who had appeared behind the Uchiha trio wore a white shirt with a black robe over top of it. His hair was a shaggy black and his right eye was covered by bandages…Danzo.

"_Shit!"_ swore Naruto. He had been so focused on Itachi and the Uchihas that he forgot about the third player in the Uchiha Massacre. His memories came back to him and he remembered that Danzo was truly the one who ordered the massacre, not Hokage-jiji.

With a single swipe of his fingers, Danzu unleashed a wind jutsu on Fugaku's comrades, cutting them down with relative ease as he turned his attention to Fugaku trusting a kunai into Fugaku's stomach.

"Tousan!" shouted Sasuke as he ran towards his father, only to be intercepted by two more masked guards.

Now that Naruto knew Danzo was behind this, he knew who those masked ANBU were…Root. As to why Danzo and Root were doing this though, Naruto still wasn't sure.

Without another word, the two Root threw a volley of kunai towards Sasuke, hoping to cut him down as well.

"Sasuke!" shouted both Naruto and Fugaku, one of which was bleeding out from the wound in his stomach as Danzo thrusted a few more kunai into the elder Uchiha's body.

"What the hell Danzo? Why?" asked Fugaku.

"This village possesses a certain power, one that has grown weak over the years. His village needs to learn a lesson. It's begun to grow too soft over the past few years" said Danzo as he reached out towards Fugaku's eyes with his hand. "I'll be taking that power from you now." With that, Danzo ripped Fugaku's eyes from the man's socket and dropped the man to the ground to die with the rest of his clan. The mummy then turned his sights on the two children behind him. _"Well, what do we have here? The little Uchiha brat and the Namikaze brat."_

Sasuke fought back up to his feet, having been knocked to the ground by the Root operatives. The raven-haired Uchiha had been saved from the volley of kunai from the Root members by a shield of shadow clones from Naruto.

"Lizard, Tera, kill the Uchiha like the rest of his clan, but bring the Namikaze to me" commanded Danzo.

The two Root nodded and leapt towards Naruto and Sasuke.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" shouted Naruto, making a dozen clones to try and intercept the two Root members. It was clear that he would have to fight now if he had any hope at saving his best friend.

Naruto's clones managed to get one, maybe, two hits off on the Root operatives before they were dispelled and continued on with their task. Both the Root members hit the children in the stomachs with strong punches, sending the two flying backwards. Not even allowing Sasuke a chance to recover, the Root threw a pair of kunai straight towards Sasuke's head, at a speed too fast for anyone with untrained eyes to see, especially a 9-year-old kid.

* * *

"Uzumaki Kushina, you are to come with us immediately" said a masked ANBU with no markings on his mask. Kushina had stepped outside the Namikaze estate, past the protection seals that Minato had littering the property, to wait for her son to arrive home from his late night Academy lesson. It was at that point that she was confronted by the three ANBU.

"What's going on?" asked Kushina out of concern.

"Nothing you need to worry about. We simply request you come with us" said the ANBU again. Kushina's instincts were on high alert, telling her something was up. Why would two ANBU suddenly appear in front of her like this. If there was some sort of emergency, either Minato or a shadow clone would come to get her. And also, being the wife of the Hokage, she was the only one besides Minato and Sarutobi who knew the village inside and out, and she certainly didn't recognize these ANBU.

"If you must know, there is a village emergency, and it is imperative that you come with us" said the other ANBU.

Kushina sighed. It must have been really important for ANBU to come, meaning that her husband had his hands completely ties to even Hiraishin to get her. As the red-head kunoichi walked past the two ANBU, one reached into his side pocket to pull out some sort of syringe and as Kushina now had her back turned to them, she wouldn't see it coming when he injected the fast-acting sedative into her system.

The ANBU made his move, only to find himself completely immobilized. He managed to move his eyes to look at one of his accomplices, but saw that they were wrapped up in a series of glowing golden chains.

"What is this?" asked one of the ANBU. "Genjutsu?" In a quick act, the ANBU tried their hardest to dispel the 'genjutsu' they were entangled in.

"This is no genjutsu. My bloodline's chakra chains are suppressing your chakra. Even if it were a genjutsu, you wouldn't be able to dispel it" said Kushina. "Now, tell me exactly what's going on."

Although you couldn't see it, the ANBU was grinning underneath his mask. Sensing an incoming attack, Kushina dodged just in time to avoid multiple shuriken. Turning back to the 'trapped' ANBU, she saw them start to turn to mud, indicating that they had just been mud clones.

The ANBU took up positions surrounding her and began going through a series of hand seals.

"Our master has a desire for your power, Kyuubi" said one of the ANBU as the three of them completed the hand seals. "Secret technique: Restraining Chakra Barrier" both ANBU said in unison as a blue barrier appeared around Kushina.

Kushina momentarily panicked, but quickly regained her composure. Still, she tried to force her way out by punching against the barrier, only for a shocking pain to shoot all throughout her body. She collapsed to the ground as the barrier began to shrink around her, limiting her movements.

However, her attention was drawn to just outside the barrier when she heard a familiar voice, one she hadn't heard since the day she gave birth to her son and one she was desperately hoping never to hear from again.

"You're mine…Kyuubi"

* * *

Sasuke could only help but watch as the kunai sailed towards his head, at a speed too fast for any untrained eye to see. The moment the kunai left the hands of the attackers, all that Sasuke could see now, was his short life flash before his eyes. They said that only happens when you're about to die, and from the current situation, that looked to be the case for the young Sasuke. But then something happened…the kunai that were sailing towards him slowed down. They didn't stop, but they had slowed down to a point where Sasuke could clearly see them and react in time to avoid the blow. With a quick ducking motion, Sasuke avoided the kunai striking him in the head by a mere fraction of a second, having some of his hair clipped off in the process.

Naruto, looking over towards Sasuke and trying to move in time to save him, saw Sasuke's last minute dodge effort and when Sasuke raised his head, a pair of red eyes, both bearing a single tomoe. "Sharingan…" whispered Naruto.

Sasuke was still in shock by his ability to actually see the attack. If the kunai were anything like what Itachi-niisan could do, there was no way he should have been able to dodge it, but then he heard the word 'Sharingan' come out of Naruto's mouth. _"Sharingan? Did I just…my Sharingan awakened?"_

The ANBU, both surprised that Sasuke had avoided the attack and not wanting to leave it up to a simple thrown kunai to try and kill the two kids in front of them, charged.

"Katon: Gokakuyu no Jutsu!"

The attack came too fast and the Root found themselves hit by the fire jutsu, throwing them backwards and giving them a few nasty burns. In front of Naruto and Sasuke jumped someone that both of them were glad to see.

"Niisan!" exclaimed Sasuke.

Quickly surveying the battlefield, Itachi found himself mortified that something like this was actually happening to his clan and family, but he remained stoic as ever. "Sasuke, you and Naruto-kun need to get out of here and find some cover" said Itachi. "Naruto, do you have any way to summon Hokage-sama here?"

By this time, the arrival of Itachi had drawn the attention of Danzo. Even he knew Itachi would be a problem, but it only became worse when he saw the blonde pull out a Hiraishin kunai from his side pouch.

"Futon: Shinkugyoku!" (Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere) shouted Danzo, resorting to his fastest ranged jutsu to try and attack the Namikaze brat before…

"Jikukan Kekkai" (Space-time Barrier)

…before that. Danzo's jutsu sped towards the two Uchiha and Namikaze, only to meet head on with a seal that had appeared out of nowhere and be sucked into some dimensional pocket. Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage had arrived on scene.

With a quick movement of his eye towards a group of Root ninja down along some street and a quick hand seal, a seal appeared in front of the Root and the jutsu that Danzo had just used appeared before them, piercing them and not allowing the Root any chance to react. They barely knew what even hit them before the dropped to the ground to die.

"Touchan!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Itachi, report" ordered Minato.

"I arrived home to find Danzo and his agents attacking my clan, brother, and Naruto-kun" said Itachi.

Minato looked around to survey the damage, which had now worsened since Naruto arrived; the only good thing was that there were now some Root shinobi mixed into the bodied that littered the ground. Minato also caught on that some of the corpses of Uchiha shinobi were missing their eyes. Minato then turned his gaze back to Danzo and all the remaining Root operatives that had gathered to face the Yellow Flash, regardless of how foolish of an endeavor anyone would have thought.

* * *

Kushina's mindscape,

Kurama for the most part was in the middle of taking a nap, or the best he could at least. Kushina's mindscape wasn't exactly ideal for sleeping, considering he had numerous stakes driven through his arms, legs, and tails. He seriously wished that he could try to convince the red-headed Uzumaki to change this mindscape to something much more accommodating…hell he was even missing the sewer that was Naruto's seal; however, there was a chance of him blowing his cover of being a time traveler.

In all reality, the stakes themselves didn't hurt at all, they just served to restrain him in a rather uncomfortable position, but after a few years, he got used to it. It also gave him an excuse to act like a total asshole to Kushina, which provided him with some form of entertainment.

The worst part about Kushina's seal however, was the restricted access he had to her senses. In Naruto's seal, he could at least see and hear the things Naruto could hear, but Kushina's seal was a lot more restrictive. Still, three words managed to slip through the seal…'You're mine…Kyuubi.'

It was these three words that roused Kurama and he knew exactly where they came from. In all honestly he hadn't expected to hear that voice for at least another 7-8 years, but that didn't appear to be the case.

With all his effort, the Kyuubi no Kitsune sent forth his chakra into Kushina, hoping that it would be enough to allow his vessel to resist the man he had come to loath so much.

* * *

Inside the barrier, Kushina looked up to see the same masked man from the night of Naruto's birth.

"You" she gasped as the masked man jumped down to examine his prize.

In all honesty, she probably shouldn't have looked, but Kushina looked up to see the Sharringan eye underneath the mask of the man who was behind her capture. Underneath the mask, 'Madara' grinned as he Sharringan began to spin and Kushina began to fell her mind go blank.

"**No!"** shouted a voice from inside Kushina's head, said voice belonging to her demonic tenant. **"Whatever you do, don't give into that man!"**

Having the barrier lowered, 'Madara' reached for his prize. Using Danzo's own selfish mission as a bit of cover to hopefully keep the Hokage busy, tonight would be the night where he would achieve what he failed to do nine years ago, unleash the Kyuubi upon Konoha. But he was stopped in his tracks as a gold flash eminated from Kushina and a surge of power threw him and the Root ANBU back.

When the light receded, Kushina was standing where she once was, covered by a shroud of gold chakra with some sort of weird seal pattern covering her and her hair separated into nine flaming gold 'tails'. _"What is this? Is this the Kyuubi's chakra? But I remember it being a red cloak that was fox-like, not this. What is this chakra?"_

"**You shouldn't be so surprised, human"** called out Kurama.

"_Kyuubi? What's going on? Did you do this?" _asked Kushina.

"**I'm giving you complete control of my chakra for the time being, make sure you don't lose against this guy"** advised Kurama.

"_Wait! Why are you doing this? Is this another one of your attempts to break free?"_ asked Kushina, not fully trusting the Fox inside her head.

"**I won't try anything funny, I swear on my tails. And I have a feeling everything will be answered shortly"** said the Kyuubi. **"Now, kill this bastard for me!"**

In all honesty, that was one request of the Kyuubi's she really wasn't going to argue with. This man had attacked her and her husband on what was supposed to be the best night of her life, despite the labor pains, and from the sounds of it, he wouldn't have hesitated to attack and possibly destroy her family.

The ANBU were the first to move in to attempt to recapture the Kyuubi jinchuriki, but Kushina disappeared immediately, reappearing behind one of them with a cocked fist preceding a punch that knocked one of the ANBU into the other, and breaking the skull of the first one she had punched. The second and third were defeated maybe a second later with the same devastating results.

"_Woah that was almost as fast as Mina-kun"_ thought Kushina in awe.

'Madara' was furious now. His second attempt to capture the Kyuubi had failed and any next attempt wasn't looking too good; however, if he wanted to succeed with his plans, he probably wouldn't have another attempt at the Kyuubi jinchuriki for another couple of years.

Madara lowered his chains that were attached to shackles on his wrist and dashed towards the glowing Kushina. Kushina saw this, and being the headstrong person she is, charged head on towards Madara. When she swung at him, she merely passed right through him and Madara grinned as he jerked forward on his chains to entangle her in them. Before he could wrap her up in them though, Kushina jumped upwards with blinding speeds, and before he could react, dropped down upon him, slamming her fist into the back of his head before he could activate whatever ability of his allowed him to become intangible.

Madara's head slammed into the ground beneath him and a cracking sound could be heard. Kushina backed away as Madara peeled himself off the ground, some chunks of the right side of his mask peeling away, partially revealing his face, but not enough to be able to piece together the masked attacker's identity.

"What the hell do you want?!" demanded Kushina.

"I want…the world. One day, I'll claim your power as my own, Kyuubi, and everyone you hold dear will suffer my wrath" said the masked man. "You cannot oppose my will. It will come true."

"Oh yeah, I'm definitely going to kick your ass, dattebane!" exclaimed Kushina.

Madara's attention was momentarily sifted elsewhere. "Perhaps another time, there is another issue I must attend to." And with that, a vortex in space itself enveloped 'Madara' and he was sucked in. The Kyuubi chakra receded from Kushina when it was clear he was gone.

* * *

Danzo and his Root forces stared down the one individual who struck fear across the elemental nations. To most people, it would be a foolish request for death, however for Danzo, it was necessary in his ploy to obtain certain powers that would give him the ability to return to Konoha one day and claim his rightful seat as ruler of the village.

On Minato's side, Itachi had finished filling Minato in. Alongside the various pieces of information he had on Danzo from Sarutobi's archives, Minato could piece together some idea on Danzo's plan. The first possibility was that this was an attempt by Danzo to weaken the village during his flight. The Uchiha were a significant factor in Konoha's overall power and by eliminating them, which could throw a major wrench in the village's defenses and security. But Minato figured something else was up. Why were the corpses of the fallen Uchiha missing their eyes? Danzo was up to something, and Minato was certain that he wasn't going to let the old war-hawk get away with it. Grabbing about a dozen of his infamous kunai, Minato prepared to throw them into the enemy ranks but hesitated the moment he saw a distortion in the space behind Danzo. Much to his dismay, the same man from nine years ago appeared out of the vortex in space.

Naruto saw this as well, and couldn't help but glare at the man. If looks could kill, 'Madara' would have been dead right about now.

"Were you able to capture the target with my subordinate's help?" asked Danzo.

Madara shook his head. "Something…unexpected happened. How did things go on your end?"

"I was hoping for better results, but I have enough for my purposes" said Danzo, holding up a case. 'Madara' nodded and before Minato could get his seals in place, Danzo, Madara, and the remainder of Root had vanished in a spiral vortex.

There were a few members of Root that still remained, not having gotten in position in time for the evacuation. With a few quick throws of his knives, Minato had rounded these Root members up and sealed their chakra. He wasn't going to kill them…at least not until Ibiki and Inoichi had their way with them.

It was at this point where the gravity of the situation began to set in as Sasuke slowly rose to his feet and staggered towards his fallen father.

"Tousan…" was all Sasuke could muster as tears began streaming from his eyes by the time he reached his fallen father.

"S-sasuke…is that…you?" Fugaku muttered out. He hadn't died yet, but anyone with experience knew that these were his last moments in this world.

"Tousan! Don't…don't…" Sasuke cried.

"Sasuke…I'm sorry…I wasn't…a better father. Please…forgive me…" and with that, Uchiha Fugaku departed this world for the next one. Sasuke fell to his knees and began to cry, a comforting hand coming to rest on his shoulder. Sasuke turned around to his brother's hand on his shoulder.

"Niisan…father, he's…" Sasuke sobbed out.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke" said Itachi.

"What about Kaasan? Is she?" asked Sasuke, looking for some ray of hope that his mother had survived the whole endeavor.

"I don't know" said Itachi.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Minato asked his son.

"Yeah…I'm just…fine" Naruto said quietly. In all reality, he wasn't fine. This is pretty much exactly what he had been hoping to stop. He knew something like this was going to happen. _"Damnit! I could have done more! I should have done more to stop this!"_ On the inside, Naruto was practically beating himself up. This had been one of the things he wanted to change the most, and yet it still happened. Sasuke's family had been murdered and now Naruto was also beginning to question himself. The differences between this massacre and the one from his old timeline were that some Uchiha were still alive and Danzo was the culprit behind the massacre, not Itachi.

Naruto wanted to hold it in, but he began to break the moment he felt a pair of caring arms embrace him. It was also around this time that the medics had arrived at the compound and began their search for any other survivors. Following the medics, was a certain red-head who was in panic mode.

"Naruto!" shouted Kushina as she jumped on her baby, practically smothering the poor blonde. "I'm so glad you're okay!" She had just finished fighting off the masked man, when she saw a large number of medics rush past her. One of them told her something happened at the Uchiha compound and Kushina was immediately running towards the compound, fearing something might have happened to Naruto.

"Minato! It was him! That masked man from 9 years ago! He attacked me and…wh-what happened?" asked Kushina as she finally saw the horrific sight of the aftermath of the Uchiha Massacre.

Minato briefly explained the situation to his wife and Kushina had immediately darted off into the carnage, no doubt searching for Mikoto, her long time best friend. Naruto also made his way forward, heading towards Sasuke to try and offer some sort of comfort.

If anything, he needed to make sure someone was there for Sasuke. From the looks of things, Sasuke had his brother this time around, but Naruto still didn't want to leave it up to just that. That had been one thing that drove Sasuke to madness the last time around…the loneliness. No one was there for the young Uchiha before and Naruto knew all too well what that sort of emptiness did to you.

It was at this time that Itachi got up as well, joining the search himself. His search came to a quick end when he found the person he had been looking for, leaning up against a tree along the edge of a small river that flowed through the compound. Unfortunately, the battered body of the one person Itachi considered his best friend wasn't real promising.

"Shisui…" Itachi said as his famous stoic mask began to crumble and the Uchiha genius ran towards his fallen comrade.

"Itachi?" said a weak Shisui, with one eye closed.

"Shisui, are you okay?!" said Itachi with more emotion than most people thought possible.

"No…Danzo, he got my right eye…" coughed Shisui. Itachi's eyes widened in horror as a small crowd, including Naruto, Sasuke, and Minato, gathered. Even Minato was taken aback by this announcement. Shisui was the only one in the Uchiha clan to possess the Mangekyo Sharingan, the evolved and more powerful form of the current Sharingan. If Danzo got his hands on that and found a way to utilize that, then only trouble could come from it, and everyone already knew it was possible to transplant the Sharingan thanks to Kakashi.

"Shisui, we need to get you to the hospital…" shouted Itachi before he was cut off by Shisui. Looking over Shisui, his body was riddled with multiple shuriken wounds and blood was pouring out at an alarming rate from his wounds.

"No…I won't make it anyways. I know I'm going to die, but the very least I can do…is to make it so you're the one who kills me…" said a weak Shisui. Everyone's eyes widened.

"What?" Itachi gasped.

"Danzo…has my eye…the Mangekyo...if he learns to harness it…the only way to stop him will be with another Mangekyo…" said Shisui. "Kill me, and get your Mangekyo…Danzo will be back, I know it…If I'm going to die…then at least allow me to give you the tool that will allow you to protect the village from him…"

"But…" Itachi said.

"I don't think I have much time…just do it. You've always been like a brother to me and it's the only thing I can do to help you in the future…" said Shisui, placing a kunai in the hesitant Itachi's hand.

"I don't think I…" said Itachi.

"Please Itachi…do it" begged Shisui, clasping Itachi's hands around the kunai and his own hands around Itachi's and lifting the kunai up to his own chest. Everyone looked on at the event that was unfolding, most people to stunned to even breathe. "Do it Itachi…and let me rest knowing the village is in good hands."

Itachi took a deep breath. This was the last thing he wanted to be doing right now, but even he could see that Shisui was just barely clinging onto life and that he wouldn't survive the night. With much remorse, Itachi pushed the kunai forward, into Shisui's chest. "Thank you…Itachi…" said Shisui as he died and Itachi eyes widened as tears streamed down from them. Those who were watching Itachi's eyes saw the three tomoe in his Sharingan begin to swirl until a sort of three-pronged spiral formed, indicating that he had in fact gained the Mangekyo Sharingan. Itachi finally collapsed into the dead body of his friend.

"I NEED A MEDIC! GET A FUCKING MEDIC OVER HERE NOW! DATTEBANE!"

Naruto and Minato turned their heads to the direction that Kushina's screaming had come from and a pair of medics went rushing in that direction, Naruto, Minato, and even Sasuke following closely behind.

"Kaasan!" shouted Sasuke as he saw the woman Kushina was kneeling over. The medics immediately went to work. "Is she?"

"She's alive, but we need to get her into surgery stat!" declared one of the medics.

"MINATO! QUIT STANDING THERE AND GET US TO THE HOSPITAL NOW!"

Minato gulped as Kushina began to take on an enraged 9-tailed appearance. He placed his hand on Kushina's shoulder while everyone joined hands to connect themselves to Minato before he Hiraishined to the seal that he had setup in the hospital for emergencies like this.

* * *

The hospital was already in a frenzy as some of the still alive Uchiha began to arrive. Of course, the sudden appearance of the Hokage and a critically injured woman helped to stem the chaos…okay not really.

Kushina, Sasuke, and Naruto were left outside in a waiting room while the medics took Mikoto into the OR for surgery. About an hour later, Itachi joined them. A few more hours passed, and by now Naruto had fallen asleep in his mother's lap, before the light outside the OR door turned green and a doctor stepped out, wheeling a gurney.

"Mitkoto!"

"Kaasan!"

Kushina and Sasuke bolted to Mikoto's side, unfortunately dropping Naruto on the floor and waking him. "How is she doctor?" asked a frantic Kushina.

"She'll live. It was close, but she'll be fine after some rest now" said the doctor, receiving a sigh of relief from Kushina.

* * *

The following day, Minato had assembled the village council to inform them about Danzo's treachery and plan the next move. By now, Kushina had informed Minato on the attack by the masked man and also the weird chakra cloak she got from the Kyuubi.

In a single night, the entire Uchiha clan, which consisted of a little over 100 members, had been reduced down to Sasuke, Mikoto, Itachi, a young boy who was a year older than Sasuke, a young girl who was 2 years younger than Sasuke and that girl's father, and half a dozen more Uchiha, leaving only 12 survivors. It was more than in the previous timeline, but it was still a significant loss.

The entire council was outraged that such an event had occurred without anyone being able to see it coming. Danzo and Root had immediately been listed as S-rank criminals and Minato had already unleashed a few squads of hunter-nin to try and track down the rouge organization, but the squads were already having trouble even picking up a trail…which was kind of expected when someone traveled using space-time ninjutsu. Also, at the meeting, two particular old crows were sweating bullets at the further implications Danzo's actions might have on them, having had dealings with the man in the past.

Minato also had the ANBU scouring through any remaining Root basses in Konoha's underground with the hopes on finding stuff, but so far it appeared as if Danzo had done a good job with the clean up.

* * *

Naruto had kept an eye on Sasuke and even Itachi via shadow clones. The last thing he wanted was for Sasuke to start breaking down and go off the deep end on the whole 'I'm an avenger' path. But so far, it was too soon to get any sort of indication as to what Sasuke was going to do, especially since most of his time was spent at the hospital waiting for his mother to awaken from her unconscious state.

School was cancelled the day after the Massacre, but Naruto just spent most of his time locked in his room that day thinking.

"_Damnit! How the hell could I have forgotten about Danzo. He was the one who ordered the whole attack in the past timeline. I was so focused on Itachi and the Uchiha clan themselves that I forgot entirely about Danzo. And I can't believe Tobi's back, that bastard. Damnit, calm down Naruto. Let's just think this through. I came back and somehow managed to stop the Kyuubi attack, although that really wasn't me because I couldn't really do much. Still, my parents are alive, so that definitely has to impact something, after all Dad's the one calling the shots. Also by preventing the Kyuubi attack, the village's much stronger and the resentment towards the Uchiha clan was never formed as a result, leading me to believe that their attempted coup was never going to happen, but then that bastard Danzo had to go and screw everything up! I never saw that coming and now I don't even know what's going to happen anymore. This is completely different from my original timeline. How can I save everyone if I don't know what I have to do to save them anymore?!"_ Naruto's frustration was at the point where he was about ready to rip that spiky blonde hair out of his head and bang it against the wall repeatedly in order to see what would give first, his head or the wall. It took him a few minutes to calm down, and also learn that his skull was stronger than the drywall in his room.

"_I just don't know. Everything feels like it's completely changing on me. I don't know what to do anymore. I was able to save Neji's dad because, well I don't really know anymore! Gagh it's so frustrating! How the hell am I supposed to save everyone I don't even know what's going to happen anymore?"_

It was at that point that the words of a certain Uchiha from the previous timeline came back to him.

Flashback no Jutsu

Naruto and Bee were standing on the battlefield, alongside Itachi, having just encountered the revived Itachi and Nagato. Itachi had just sealed Nagato using the Sword of Totsuka after releasing himself from Kabuto's control by utilizing Kotoamatsukami.

"I really hate this edoten jutsu or whatsit!" declared Naruto, currently in Kyuubi-chakra mode. "You're forced to fight people you don't want to fight…It's happening in the other battlefields as well, isn't it?"

"I will stop the Edo Tensi. I leave Madara to you" said Itachi.

"No! I'll stop it!" declared Naruto, making the hand seals for the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. He made a shadow clone, but the Kyuubi-chakra cloak vanished.

"You used the Kyuubi-chakra mode for too long. Don't make any more clones, Naruto!" exclaimed Bee.

"Don't try to overdo it on your own. I'm perfect to stop the Edo Tensi" said Itachi. "I have a plan…"

"I'll deal with this war myself!" interjected Naruto. "I'll take care of everything…It's my duty!"

Naruto's clone dispelled as the real Naruto panted with exhaustion. "You've certainly become stronger. But you seem to be forgetting something very important" said Itachi, catching Naruto's attention. "Listen and remember. The reason people of the village, who used to have you started to admire you and consider you their comrade is that you've always worked hard because you wanted to be acknowledged by them. You said 'it's thanks to everybody that I could come this far'. If now that you are more powerful you start to forget about others to be arrogant and to be attached to your ego…one day you'll become just like Madara!"

Naruto's eyes widened in horror at that realization.

"No matter how powerful you've become, never try to shoulder everything alone. Otherwise you'll undoubtedly fail. Your father Minato became Hokage because he had your mother and all the others. You're dream is the same as your father's isn't it?" asked Itachi as Naruto began to think. "It's not that if you become Hokage everyone will acknowledge you, it's the ones who are acknowledged that can become Hokage. Do not forget your friends."

"Naruto…I made a promise to this guy called Iruka. I swore to protect you…I won't let ya go alone! I'm still alive afta all!" exclaimed Bee.

Iruka's words came to Naruto's mind. _"You don't have to shoulder everything alone."_

End Flashback no Jutsu

"_I can't do it all alone. That's what Itachi and Iruka-sensei told me. This burden, to change the past for better, I can't do it alone anymore"_ thought Naruto as he took a deep breath and left his room.

"Mina-kun, do you think he's okay?" asked Kushina. Minato and Kushina were downstairs in the living room, listening to the banging of Naruto's head from above them. It was obvious that the whole incident had taken its toll on Naruto as well. He had locked himself in his room all day and his parents were becoming concerned.

"I'm sure he's fine honey. We're all worn out and in distress after today, we all just need some time to let things heal and settle down" said Minato, trying to shake aside his own grievances. He had also lost a good friend last night with the death of his old teammate Fugaku.

After a few minutes, the banging finally stopped and they heard Naruto's door click open as he came down stairs.

"Naruto-kun, sweetie, is everything okay?" asked a concerned Kushina.

"No. Everything's changing and I can't do anything about it. I need help if I'm to change everything for the better" said Naruto, earning a confused look from his father.

"Naruto, what are you talking about?" asked Kushina.

Naruto took a deep breath, it was now or never. _"I've just gotta convince them to at least listen to me"_ thought Naruto. _"Yeah, that should do it."_

"Please just promise me you'll hear me out. This is going to sound crazy, but I swear I'm telling you the truth" said Naruto.

"What is it you need to tell us?" asked Minato.

"Do you guys believe in time travel?" asked Naruto.

Minato and Kushina both looked at Naruto wide-eyed and curious. Being an expert in time-space ninjutsu, Minato had looked into some theory behind time travel, but he didn't think it was actually possible at this point.

Naruto needed something to push them just a little further. He held out his right hand and channelled chakra. Minato gasped when he saw his signature jutsu form in Naruto's hand. "I'm actually from about 8 years in the future. I came back nine years ago to the day I was born with the hopes of correcting many of the problems that happened. But after tonight, I realized I can't do it all alone, I need help."

* * *

Author Notes

Well, there you have it Chapter 11.

For those of you who think I could have just killed off Danzo…yeah, I could have, but that would make things to easy, and frankly Danzo's a bitch who just keeps causing more and more problems (kind of like Kabuto and Tobito)

I think you guys know what's coming next. There will be a total of 6 people who Naruto tells. Two of them you already know, but I'll keep the last four to myself until the next chapter.

Don't forget to review.


	12. The Guardian Nine

**Well, sorry for the delay but here's the next chapter. **

**This is my last comment(s) on the whole Naruto/Kushina jinchuriki thing. No one's comment made me change my decision on that. I looked back at where I wanted to take this story and I made the decision that I felt was in the best interest of the story. I will add that I will in no way kill off Kushina though.**

**I also did mention that I was going to have Naruto tell 6 people, I have increased that number to 7, which will give a total of 9 people/beings who know about the future.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

Posted: 5/1/13

* * *

**Chapter 12: The Guardian Nine**

"Naruto-kun, sweetie, is everything okay?" asked a concerned Kushina.

Naruto sighed. "No. Everything's changing and I can't do anything about it. I need help if I'm going to change everything for the better" said Naruto, earning a confused look from both of his parents.

"Naruto…what are you talking about?" asked Kushina.

It was now or never. _"I've just gotta at least convince them to listen to me and not think I've gone crazy" _thought Naruto, thinking of something. _"Yeah, that should help."_

"Please just promise me you'll hear me out. This is going to sound crazy, but I swear I'm telling you the truth" said Naruto.

"Don't worry Naruto, we'll listen. Now what seems to be on your mind?" asked Minato.

"Do you guys believe in time travel?" asked Naruto.

Both parents looked at their son wide-eyed and curious as to where that came from. Being an expert in space-time ninjutsu, Minato had delved into the theory behind time-travel, but he never thought it was quite possible at this point in time.

To regain their attention, Naruto held out his hand, channeling chakra into it and spinning it. Minato's eyes looked about ready to pop out of their socket when he saw his jutsu form in Naruto's hand. "I'm actually from about 8 years in the future. I came back nine years ago on the day I was born. Things got bad and it was the only way I could save everyone. But then last night, I realized that I can't do it all alone."

For the next minute, silence filled the room as Minato and Kushina were trying to process everything that had just been said, and then Kushina couldn't help but laughing.

"Okay son, I think you've just had a little too much ramen for tonight" laughed Kushina. Minato was still frozen at this point.

"Huh? But mom, I'm telling you the truth, dattebayo!" exclaimed Naruto. "I really am from the future!"

"Oh no, there it is. I thought I told your teachers to break you of that verbal tick" said Kushina. "I know these past few days have been crazy for us all. Perhaps you just need some sleep."

"Oh come on…dad?" Naruto sent a pleading look to Minato, hoping that Minato would at least calm Kushina down a bit to the point where he could explain things. However, Minato's mind was still focused on how exactly Naruto knew the Rasengan.

"Naruto…how do you know the Rasengan? Have you been getting in my notes again?" asked Minato.

"_Maybe…but that's not where I got the Rasengan from"_ thought Naruto. "Dad, I swear I'm telling the truth. Ero-Sennin taught it to me, although I guess he didn't teach it to me in this timeline."

"Did someone call my name?!" called out a voice, jumping through the window.

"Sensei?" said Minato. "Don't you ever use the door?"

"I'm a ninja. And besides I remember you using the window when Sensei still had the hat" said Jiraiya. It was then that he noted the atmosphere of the room. "So what's going on, I hope I'm not intruding on anything."

Minato looked towards Naruto. "It's okay. I was going to tell Ero-Sennin anyways" said Naruto.

"Tell me what?" asked Jiraiya.

"Minato…have you been getting into the ramen late at night as well?" asked Kushina. While Minato had at least surrendered to hearing out Naruto's explanation, Kushina still thought she was hallucinating.

"Kushina, please just give Naruto a chance to explain" requested Minato. Kushina sighed and stopped her ranting for a moment.

"Okay then, out with it Gaki" said Jiraiya.

Naruto then said the same thing to Jiraiya that he had just told Minato and Kushina moments ago and was now waiting for the Toad Sannin to wrap his head around the thought that his godson was a time traveler.

"Okay, I'm sorry but could you please repeat that again? It sounded like you just got back from a sci-fi convention" said Jiraiya, causing Naruto to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"I'm serious, just ask the furball in mom's stomach, -ttebayo!" shouted Naruto.

This immediately caught everyone's attention and the room went silent. Naruto was not supposed to know about the Kyuubi, let alone that Kushina was the jinchuriki.

"Naruto…how do you know about the Kyuubi?" asked Kushina, now slightly afraid of how to answer.

"I'm not lying Kaachan, I really am from the future. Whatever I need do to prove it, I will" said Naruto. "The timeline I came from, I was the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi."

Kishina was horrified, utterly horrified. She wanted to continue on as if this was just another one of Naruto's jokes, yet there were some things that just made everything believable. First was his knowledge of the Kyuubi. He might have been her son, but Kushina did not remember telling Naruto about the biju sealed inside her. That was one thing they were going to keep a secret until Naruto was matured and an adult at the very earliest. But what really got her was the look that had shown itself on Naruto's face. She could tell that even though he still bared the resemblance of her cheerful son; that he had been to hell and back. She saw that he had suffered and he had persevered. It was one of the things a mother never wanted to see in her child, but it was there, a knowing of what true loneliness and desperation were. The answer to her next question was one she absolutely did not want to hear, yet she had to. "If you were the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi…what happened to me and your father?"

Naruto looked at both his parents, sadness and longing showing themselves in Naruto's eyes. "That night that masked man attacked…the night I was born and the night I came back…In my time, he succeeded in capturing you and releasing the Kyuubi. He attacked Konoha that night with the Kyuubi under the control of some powerful genjutsu. You two did the only thing you could to stop him…you sealed the Kyuubi inside me…dying in the process."

For the second time in five minutes, Minato and Kushina were utterly speechless. Even Jiraiya was looking at his godson at a loss for words.

"_Is that what would have happened? Had that man succeeded on that night, would I have had to seal the Kyuubi in my own son?" _thought Minato. He only knew one way to do something like that in a desperate time of need, the Shiki Fuin, a seal that utilized the power of the Shinigami, but at a high cost. Minato had fought that man that night and he had heard the man's monologue. The sad thing was that after that encounter, he could actually see himself using that seal if the Kyuubi had indeed attacked Konoha.

"What else happened, Naruto?" asked Minato. "Surely that couldn't have been the reason you came back."

"No, it wasn't. But that night was the night that started everything, even if it took 18 years for Tobi to make his final move" said Naruto.

"Tobi?" asked Minato, slightly confused.

"Sorry, that's the name the masked man goes by…oh, and that does remind me, I do know his true identity" said Naruto. "You're not going to like this, but he was actually a former student of your, Uchiha Obito."

Minato froze up in shock. Obito was alive? Obito betrayed his village and tried to destroy it? "Naruto, are you sure? Obito's been dead for years."

"I'm sorry dad, but it is. Even Kakashi-sensei had the same reaction at first" said Naruto. "I hate to end it there, but there are also a few other people who I want to hear what happens in the future."

"I understand, who else are you thinking of?" asked Minato.

"Well, there was the three of you. I also want to tell Jiji. And Ero-Sennin, if you could bring Sennin Ji-chan" said Naruto. Jiriaya just raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, I mean Fukasaku-sensei."

"What do you want with Pa, and how do you even know about him? Wait! Don't tell me…" said Jiriaya, realizing what Naruto was implying.

"Yeah, I trained under him in senjutsu" said Naruto. This night was just full of surprises to Jiraiya as Naruto had just added yet another one to the ever growing stack.

"So you were a sage?" asked Jiraiya. Naruto nodded.

"It happened just after…just after you died." Everyone could tell that was probably the hardest thing of the night for Naruto to say as he shed a few tears while saying it. Minato and Kushina could tell what had happened. With the two of them dead, and Jiraiya as Naruto's godfather, it was obvious that the two of them had a rather strong bond in the past. "And I'll say this now…two of your previous students are still alive. Nagato and Konan are their names." One more surprise added to the deck of surprises and if anymore were added, everyone was pretty sure Jiraiya's eyes would pop out of their sockets. "But they were the ones who killed you. I don't know when, but Danzo did something to Nagato that set him against Konoha. I promise I'll explain more but as I said I don't want to have to repeat myself."

"Guess, I should let Pa know what's going on then" said Jiraiya.

"I also want to let Kakashi-sensei in on this and even Itachi. There's one really important thing I'm going to need Itachi's help with" said Naruto.

"Alright, I'll gather everyone together at 10:00 tomorrow. I think it's only fair we at least hear you out" said Minato.

"Thank you, Touchan" said Naruto. "I promise you I'm not lying and I'll do whatever I can to prove it to you. Oh, and you'll never believe it, but I completed your Rasengan."

"Y-you what?" asked a dumbfounded Minato. Naruto's mischievous side took hold of him at that moment and figured he'd let his dad digest that bit of information before actually telling him.

* * *

The following morning, the five other people Naruto had requested were waiting in the Hokage's office for Minato to arrive and explain the reason why he had called them. Even Kakashi was there, with Kushina threatening to take away his precious Icha Icha books and burn all of Jiraiya's notes if he was even a second late. This was probably the first time Kakashi had ever been 2 hours early for anything.

Finally, Minato walked into the office, accompanied by Kushina and Naruto and people were already asking as to why they were in the office and not searching for any whereabouts of Danzo.

"First I want to make this clear" addressed Minato. "Everything that is said in here today is considered an S-rank secret and cannot be told to anyone without the direct permission of myself or my son. Should you break this rule, you will be considered guilty of treason."

Now this simply made everyone curious. Why was a 9-year old boy, even if he was the son of the Hokage, being allowed in on an S-rank conversation and why was it required to get permission from said boy to speak about such a secret?

After receiving a nod from everyone in understanding, Minato activated the strongest privacy seals in his arsenal and sealed the room.

"I'm going to warn you now. This is going to sound crazy, but I have enough reason to at least warrant a full explanation" said Minato. "Last night, it came to my attention that my son, Naruto, is in fact a time traveler."

"And what sort of warrant do you have to believe that?" asked the Sandaime. "I care for what Naruto says as well, but we don't have time to be playing silly little games."

"As I said, I have reason to believe he's actually telling the truth. He somehow knew about Kushina's status as a jinchuriki" said Minato. This immediately silenced the Sandaime. He was one of only a handful of people in the village who knew that secret and they were certain that secret had been kept from Naruto. "For those of you who were not aware, that is also an S-rank secret that is punishable by death."

"And what were your reactions to this, Kushina-chan?" asked the Sandaime.

"At first I wanted to laugh. As much as I love my son, I didn't believe him or perhaps I didn't want to believe him. But after he mentioned _that_, I had a thorough discussion with the Kyuubi last night and even the Kyuubi agreed. While I won't trust that overgrown demon, I trust my son and figured I'd at least hear him out" explained Kushina.

"And how about you Jiraiya?" asked Hiruzen.

"I was also shocked and didn't believe him at first, however he knew a few things that I never realized I told him" said Jiraiya. "_Especially regarding Nagato and the Rinnegan. Once everything is settled here, I desperately need to go and see if they're still okay. Naruto mentioned something sending Nagato off the deep-end."_

"Perhaps this could explain the Elder's constant rambling about 'a second chance for the child of prophecy'" said Fukasaku.

"Does this have anything to do with why you were spying on me about a month ago?" asked Itachi.

Naruto grinned at this. He should have realized that spying on Itachi would have been much harder than he originally thought. "Yeah, I'm sorry to say, but in the old timeline you were the one who killed the Uchiha clan."

"Why would I do such a thing?" asked Itachi.

"I'll get into that. Just know that in the old timeline, they were planning coup of the village and that was a last resort" explained Naruto. "I was there to try and make sure you weren't going to do the same thing as that drove Sasuke away from the village and into Orochimaru's hands."

"You mean Sasuke betrayed the village?" asked Itachi. Sadly, Naruto nodded. "I see. Then I suppose that's the reason you've included me in on this conversation."

"Yeah, it is. One of the things I promised myself upon coming back was that I'd save him from going down that dark path no matter what and I was hoping you'd be able to help me there, since one of the main driving forces behind that was his desire to kill you" said Naruto.

"And why would I…oh, I see" replied Itachi.

"You told him that you simply killed the clan to measure your skills and that he was to hate you and come after you to kill you, although you actually did it to prevent a coup de' eta" said Naruto. "I also think it had something to do with a Tsukuyomi-induced coma you put him in" said Naruto.

"I only just learned about that ability that Shishu gave me. I didn't tell it to anyone yet. Very well then, I'll accept there may be some truth to your story" said Itachi. In reality, he already knew Naruto was telling the truth thanks to his Sharingan eyes.

"And do you have anything to add, Kakashi?" asked Minato.

"Huh? Did you say something?" asked Kakashi, nonchalantly, causing everyone to face plant while Kakashi just chuckled, but soon became serious again. "That certainly does explain a lot of things, like how a 3-year old knew of the attempted abduction of a certain Hyuga and was actually able to stop it with a jonin-level transformation technique."

Everyone, minus Fukasaku, just stared at Naruto. "Then that means the mysterious masked ninja Hiashi reported was you?" A big grin plastered Naruto's face. "We've been trying to figure out who the hell that was for years now. Why didn't you say anything, Kakashi?"

"Sorry sensei, but in all honesty would you really have believed me? I didn't even believe what I saw myself" replied Kakashi.

"Honestly, you're probably right. I had checked on Naruto at around the same time Hizashi-san reported the incident to occur and I saw that Naruto was still in his bed" said Minato. "Wait, does that mean you've been able to use shadow clones this entire time?"

Naruto nodded and Minato realized this was most certainly going to be a confusing day. "So are you going to start explaining everything to us now?" Minato asked Naruto.

"I will, but is there any way to bring Kurama into this conversation?" asked Naruto.

"Kurama?" asked both Minato and Kushina.

"Sorry, the Kyuubi. Kurama's his name" replied Naruto.

"…"

"That thing has a name?! All this time and he never even said a word? I've been trying to make simple conversation with him ever since he was sealed in my gut and he never once gave me a name! Dattebane!"

A few people sweat-dropped at Kushina's outburst.

"Naruto, you're absolutely sure he's on our side?" asked Minato.

"I am. He never would have helped out against Obito…" Naruto was cut off by Kakashi.

"O-obito? Sensei…" Kakashi turned to Minato for an answer.

"I'm sorry Kakashi, but at least from what Naruto's been telling, that masked man is Obito" replied Minato. "Believe me, it's still hard to believe and I don't think I ever will believe him until I see for sure."

Kakashi sank to his knees. Obito was alive? But he had tried to attack Sensei and his family?

"So dad, can we bring Kurama into this somehow?" asked Naruto.

"I guess. We'll just have to take this inside Kushina's seal then" said Minato. "Are you okay with that dear?"

"If it will give me answers, fine. But I'm still mad at that overgrown bucket of fur for not saying anything!" replied Kushina as she laid down on Minato's desk and Minato lifted her shirt just enough to expose the seal.

"Okay, everyone place your hand overtop the seal and channel a little bit of your chakra" instructed Minato. Everyone there did as instructed and they soon found their minds enter Kushina's seal.

* * *

Kushina's seal,

"So where are we?" asked Kakashi as the seven of them were now standing in a long corridor that seemed to be endless.

"This is my seal, or at least the mental interpretation of it" replied Kushina. "This way."

Kushina led them down a few different corridors until finally they came to a large open space, with the Kyuubi himself staked to a large floating ball in the center.

"You know, that really doesn't look comfortable" joked Naruto.

"**You think? If I had known I'd end up exactly like this, I never would have used that jutsu!" **shouted Kurama. **"So it looks like you've told them. Are you sure you can trust these people?"**

"I am. I trusted them all in the past" said Naruto.

"**Even the Uchiha there?"** growled Kurama towards Itachi.

"You even know that Itachi was always on our side in the very beginning" replied Naruto.

"So are you two going to start explaining now?" asked Kushina.

"We will, but please don't interrupt us until we're done" said Naruto as he began to tell his story.

…

"…We had severely underestimated the potential of the Jubi and in just one attack, the Jubi had ripped through almost all our forces. After it had happened, there were maybe a dozen or so left who had managed to survive somehow, but that didn't mean anything. Everyone I had cared for, everyone I had sworn to protect. Right there, I had failed them, and I still feel as if I had. But then Kurama said that there was a chance to change it and save everyone. I took that chance, and here I am now."

A pregnant silence filled the space in Kushina's seal as everyone was trying to process what was going on and comprehending exactly why they had been brought here.

Minato and Kushina were obviously his parents and they realized that Naruto would need their support more than anyone else's. Not to mention, in the previous timeline, as Naruto called it, they had both been killed the night their son was born. Naruto knew that there was no way he would be able to keep this from his parents forever and he figured he would tell them on his own terms.

Jiraiya was Naruto's godfather and it was evident from Naruto's story that he had become more like a father to Naruto in the past timeline. He still couldn't believe that Nagato and Konan were still alive, but he did have the feeling that it was too late to simply walk into Amegakure and talk with them. He would have to be careful now about approaching them, but it did help that he now knew what it was he was dealing with.

Like Jiraiya, Sarutobi also got the feeling that Naruto held him close, kind of like a grandfather. He was distraught when he learned that Orochimaru had attacked Konoha during Naruto's first chunin exams and brought them and their closest allies to the brink of war. Hopefully, he and Minato would be able to work diligently to ensure Suna remained loyal to their ally.

Fukasaku, one of the Elder Toad Sages, was still questioning exactly why he was here until Naruto got to the later parts of the story. It was obvious this child had studied under him in the sage arts. It didn't take Fukasaku long to realize that this blonde child was in fact the chosen one the prophesy spoke of and it explained what exactly the Great Elder had been rambling on about for the past couple of years.

Itachi was able to deduce why Naruto had brought him into this conversation. Naruto saw Sasuke as a brother, and after the incident just a few nights ago, he could see that Naruto was afraid Sasuke would go down the same dark path as before. Naruto figured that if anyone could keep Sasuke under control, it was his own brother.

Out of everyone there, Kakashi was hit the hardest. His best friend and 'surrogate brother' was the primary culprit behind the entire mess that forced Naruto to use that time-travel jutsu. Naruto had explained that Kakashi had been right there with him on the battlefield and that Kakashi was one of the few people Naruto had absolute trust in back in the previous timeline. He also now understood why Obito was acting like he was…Rin. Obito must have seen that moment when he was forced to kill Rin before some puppet seal would have forced her to betray secretive information about Konoha to Kiri. It was the one thing he regretted most in his life, but sadly it was necessary to keep Konoha, and Rin, safe.

The first one to make any sort of movement was Kushina as she dropped to her knees, embraced Naruto and began crying. "Naruto, I'm so sorry everything happened like that. I'm sorry you had to go through what you did. And I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."

"Kaachan…It's okay. I don't blame you. You did everything you could and as I told you in the past, I'm glad that you're my parents and I'm happy for everything you were able to give me, even if it wasn't much" said Naruto. "I'm also hoping you won't look at me any different. I kind of liked being a kid again this time around."

"Don't worry, you'll always be my baby boy" said Kushina.

"Mom…I said I wanted a chance to be a kid, not a baby" argued Naruto.

"Trust me, to her you'll always be her baby boy" said Minato, placing his hand on Naruto's head. "I am proud of you that you had the courage to come out and tell us about this. Now that we know what's going to happen, we can prepare to stop it from happening, am I right?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, realizing that there was no way they could let Naruto's future come true.

"So the question is, what are we going to do about you?" asked Kushina, turning to Kurama.

"**Hmm…If you want to know what I think you should do, then I'll tell you. I want you to transfer me into Naruto there."**

A horrified silence shook Kushina and the others who had known about the Kyuubi beforehand.

"W-what?! You want me to seal you inside my son?!" shouted Kushina. "WHAT IN YOUR RIGHT MIND MAKES YOU THINK I'D HAVE YOU SEALED INSIDE MY PRECIOUS SON?!"

To Kushina's surprise, it wasn't Kurama who answered, but Naruto. "Because, I acknowledge him as being my partner and not just some evil demon fox."

"But didn't you just say that the extraction of the biju kills the host?" asked Minato.

"I did, and believe me that's the ABSOLUTE LAST thing I want. In my time, you did survive the extraction. You said it was because of your clan's extraordinary stamina that you were able to do so" explained Naruto. "If there is a way to do it that would ensure you survive Kaachan, then I wouldn't mind becoming the jinchuriki of Kurama again."

"**Believe me when I say I've been doing more than just sitting here for nine years. What I plan to do is leave a sizable portion of my own, pure chakra within you. That should give you enough to easily survive the extraction and you'll even have access to some of my power without me trying to take over. You remember that gold cloak that you used against that Tobi-teme?**" asked Kurama. Kushina nodded. **"That's the chakra cloak you'll be able to use. It's my pure chakra, free of my will and influence."**

"And if I say no?" asked a stern Kushina.

"**Then I won't give you my full cooperation"** replied Kurama. **"Your child is right. He is the only person who has truly acknowledged me, and he's the only one here right now I will work with to the fullest."**

"Minato?" Kushina turned to her husband for advice.

"Believe me, I'm not too comfortable with the thought of turning my son into a jinchuriki, but I can see why my past self did so" said Minato. "This choice is entirely between you and Naruto and I'll support whatever you two decide 100%."

"As much as I see you suffering with the thought, I can see the benefit in doing so" spoke the Sandaime. "First, Naruto and Kurama here have more knowledge about what's going to happen than we ever will. I mean sure, they can tell us, but we don't actually know exactly what's going to happen. By doing this, this will allow the two of them to come up with the best course of action we should take regarding certain events. And second, if this Akatsuki is really after the jinchuriki and Obito is the leader, then it would be to our advantage to counter them by changing the identity of the jinchuriki as they most certainly are aware that you are the jinchuriki."

"But how do you expect me to pass this burden off to my child when it's the parents job to protect their children?!" argued Kushina.

"Because Naruto-kun bears a bigger burden on his shoulders than any of us could ever imagine" spoke Itachi. "In fact, transferring the Kyuubi to him may even help relieve him of his burdens. I cannot imagine how troubling it must be to have knowledge of the future, especially one that goes as awry as it did."

"Kaachan, I know you don't want to do this, but I already lost you once and I don't want to lose you again, which is why I need to be able to do everything I can to protect you, Touchan, and everyone" said Naruto.

"**And I should also mention that if I'm no longer sealed inside you, then that gives you and your husband the opportunity to fulfill that certain desire you have without me trying to escape like last time"** commented Kurama.

"Huh? Certain desire?" asked an oblivious Naruto, causing both Minato and Kushina to blush.

"That's a talk for another day, son" commented Minato.

"Why wait?!" exclaimed Jiraiya. "Come on Naruto and let Jiraiya fill you in on anything I might have missed in the past."

"OH HELL NO! I'M NOT LETTING YOU OR YOUR PERVERTED WAYS ANYWHERE NEAR MY CHILD! –TTEBANE!" With that, Kushina's fish came down on top of Jiraiya's head…hard.

Taking a moment to think about it, Kushina sighed. "Okay, I'll do it. But if you try anything, and I mean ANYTHING with Naruto, I'll have you locked up in a seal so painful that you'll be begging me to go to a 5-star resort that's ten-times worse than where you are now!"

"**Yondaime, do you have a seal that can do this?**" asked Kurama.

"I do, but it will take some time to set up. And the transfer process is going to have to take at least 4 days to complete" explained Minato.

"Yes! No school!" cheered Naruto.

"Which we'll do next week when Naruto is on break" added Minato earning a groan from Naruto. "Sorry, you may have a 26-year old mind, but to us you're still 9."

Minato turned his attention back to Kurama. "Also, I'm going to have to fully seal you and you're going to have to remain that way for 3-4 years while Naruto's chakra coils readjust to your chakra as it's slowly introduced to his system. If I'm correct in the theories of time travel, Naruto should have his Yin chakra from the past timeline, meaning he's already somewhat accustom to your chakra, but I'm still going to do it as a safety precaution. You'll still be able to communicate, but you won't be able to give him much chakra at that time. I also will be placing a certain failsafe in that seal that allows me to cut off ALL access between you two. It's not that I don't trust you, but I honestly don't trust you."

"**Hmm…that is understandable"** replied Kurama.

* * *

In the real world,

Everyone stopped channeling chakra into Kushina's seal and regained their consciousness back in Minato's office.

"So I think we all understand what is going on now" commented Minato. "I am also making this a SS-class secret. No one is to speak of this to anyone outside of the nine of us. From the sounds of everything, the first major event is scheduled to happen during the chunin exams, over three years from now. As Naruto mentioned with the Uchiha incident, we are not certain if this time is going to follow the past, but we need to make sure we're prepared. Likewise, we can't just go changing stuff off the deep end. The more we change, the more uncertain the future is."

Everyone nodded in agreement. "Sensei, if you could start trying to track down information regarding Orochimaru and Akatsuki…"

"I was already planning on it" replied Jiraiya.

"Ero-Sennin, I can give you a lot of information that should give you some leads" said Naruto.

"Will you quit calling me that, Gaki?!" retorted Jiraiya.

"I will when you stop being a perv" replied Naruto. Jiraiya sighed in defeat.

"Sensei, I also know what you're thinking and I want you to promise me not to go into Ame unless you're absolutely certain you won't be killed or you can escape" said Minato. He could tell his sensei was thinking of Nagato and Konan. If his estimates were right, then Danzo had already moved against the Ame orphans just before Naruto was born.

"As much as I want to go after them, I know you're probably right Minato. I won't just abandon them, but I won't be a fool and charge into fight someone who's killed me before" said Jiraiya.

"Thank you sensei. And there is one more thing I'd like to ask of you and Fukasaku-sama" said Minato.

"You wish to be trained as a sage, don't you?" asked Fukasaku. "I will begin making the necessary preparations for you."

"Really? You're going to become a sage dad?!" exclaimed Naruto. "Hey, can you help me out too, Sennin Ji-chan?"

"As of right now, I cannot. While your chakra reserves are impressive, they're still too young for senjutsu training. Not to mention, if you're going to have the Kyuubi chakra added to that, then we will have to wait until your own chakra has fully accepted it and stabilized, which as your father said is going to take 3-4 years" replied Fukasaku.

"What?! Damnit, then that means no Rasenshuriken!" huffed Naruto.

"Speaking of which, I don't suppose you wouldn't mind sharing that jutsu with me" inquired Minato.

"Sure!" exclaimed Naruto. "Hey, do you think you could teach me one of yours? Like maybe your Hiraishin?"

"Oh no! I will not have two yellow flashes teleporting all over my house!" yelled Kushina.

"You know, I suppose that's a fair trade. But you need to get a lot better with your fuinjutsu first, Naruto" replied Minato. "Once you're at the proper level, I promise I'll teach it to you. Besides I already missed my chance to teach you the Rasengan." Minato sent a glare to Jiraiya.

"Hey, don't look at me. I didn't teach it to him!" defended Jiraiya.

"Umm…actually you did" said Naruto.

"Quiet Gaki! Oh, and that reminds me, do you have any idea where Tsunade is?"

* * *

"_Why did that all happen? Why did those Root ANBU or whatever they were kill father and the rest of the clan?"_ thought Sasuke, who had come to the edge of the dock he would always come to in order to think. "Damnit!" Sasuke slammed his hand down into the wooden dock. "I can't just sit here and let those people get away with what they did!"

"Sasuke." Sasuke's head whipped around when he heard the voice of his brother from behind him. Itachi walked up to Sasuke and took a seat next to the younger Uchiha. "I know how you feel, little brother, and I'd be lying to if I didn't hate Danzo and his subordinates for what they did, but now's not the time for thinking of doing anything rash."

"But they just killed most of our clan, our family!" argued Sasuke.

"We weren't the only victims, Sasuke" said Itachi. "Danzo also targeted Kushina-san and Hokage-sama's family, which means Danzo lost an attack against the village itself."

"Yeah but…"

"Sasuke, Danzo will be served justice and believe me when I say Hokage-sama and the village is working towards bringing him in to answer for his crimes" said Itachi. "You do not have to go about this alone, nor do I. The entire village is in this mess together. Do you understand?"

"I think so, Niisan" replied Sasuke.

"Good, Sasuke" said Itachi, giving his brother a poke on the head. _"I promise I won't let you take the dark path you did, Sasuke."_

"Hey Niisan, do you think you can help me with my Sharingan?" asked Sasuke, activating his single-tomoe red eyes. "I need to get stronger incase that Danzo creep comes back."

* * *

About a week later,

Minato, Kushina, Naruto, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Itachi, and Hiruzen stood at the entrance to a rather large chamber that was dug deep into the mountain side that the Hokage Monument was situated on. Minato had just completed the vast sealing matrix that was the Akuma-tenso Fuin (Demonic transfer Seal). It was here that Naruto and Kushina would spend the next four days while the Kyuubi was slowly transferred from Kushina into Naruto.

Kurama had already finished the preparations inside Kushina's body, separating a good mass of his own chakra and handing it off to Kushina so that she would survive the transfer. Naruto also had the new seal inscribed onto his stomach, resembling his old one with a few slight modifications.

"Just to be clear, Hiruzen's going to watch over the village in my steed for the next few days while Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Itachi rotate between guarding me and my family while the ritual is underway. I have made certain that only the eight of us and Fukasaku-sama know what is happening and I intend for it to stay that way. Once this is done, we will keep Naruto's status as a jinchuriki secret, only revealing it on an absolute need-to-know basis" addressed Minato. "While I'm powering the seal, I cannot break my chakra flow or that will end the ritual and we'll have to start over. Also, I'm going to place a sleeping seal on Naruto and Kushina just in case there is any discomfort or pain."

"Kushina, while I am certain you will have no trouble surviving, I am going to have you and Naruto hooked up to a few monitors. If at any point I feel yours or Naruto's life may be at risk, I will cancel the ritual immediately and we will not do this again" stated Minato. "Kushina, I want to be absolutely certain you and Naruto want to go through with this one last time."

"I've had some time to think on it and if the Furball in Naruto will better our chances at a brighter future, then I'll do it and I'll still love my Naruto-kun all the same" replied Kushina.

"Thanks mom. I'm glad you understand and I honestly couldn't have asked for better parents" said Naruto, bringing a tear to Kushina's eye.

Kushina and Naruto laid down on their designated mats on the seal. "If you two are ready, I'm now going to activate the sleep seals" called out Minato. Both Naruto and Kushina nodded in agreement and Minato activated the seals as the two Uzumakis lost consciousness. "From here on out, I won't be able to move until this ritual is completed in 96 hours. Until then, I need the three of you to ensure nothing enters this room."

Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Itachi nodded. "Very well, let's begin. Akuma-tenso Fuin."

* * *

Four days later in Naruto's mindscape,

Naruto awoke in a semi-familiar location. He recognized the tunnels from his mindscape in the previous timeline, although thankfully, they weren't flooded. Aimlessly, Naruto wandered down the corridors until he came to pair of large iron gates with a tag that read 'seal' on it.

"**I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's good to be back"** spoke Kurama.

"Yeah, it was getting kind of lonely in here without you" replied Naruto. "I'd remove that seal, but Touchan said I couldn't for at least four years."

"**Meh, I can wait. It'll give me some time to think anyways on what we need to do and how to do it"** said Kurama.

Naruto began to fade from the mindscape indicating he was waking up. "Well, it looks like I've gotta go."

"**Just make sure you stop by every now and then. It's boring without anyone to talk to"** said Kurama as Naruto left his own mindscape.

* * *

Real world,

Naruto lowly opened his cerulean blue eyes to see that he was still lying in the sealing chamber. He knew the ritual was a success as he had just spoken with Kurama. Now the question was, how was his mother?

"Mina-kun?" Naruto heard coming from his left. Naruto sat up with Jiraiya's help and looked over to his left to see his mom being lifted by his dad.

"How ya feeling Kushi-chan?" asked Minato.

"Well, nothing feels off, except that I no longer have the furball in my gut. It honestly feels kind of weird and I can feel his chakra in me, but it's not malevolent or anything. It's actually kind of warm and refreshing" said Kushina.

"So everything's going to be okay?" asked Minato.

Kushina nodded but moved into whisper into Minato's ear with a lustful tone to her voice. "At least everything will be after tonight." Minato couldn't help but blush a little.

As everyone left the sealing chamber, the room remained empty…or did it?

"**Well this is an interesting development."**

"It certainly is. I wonder if it's going to be a boy or a girl."

"**Not that. Leader-sama will be interested in learning about this change of jinchuriki."**

* * *

_**Author Notes**_

**Well, there's chapter 12. **

**Have a few things to say, so stay tuned. **

**I obviously left out the whole story of the past timeline. If you want to know, just watch the anime. Now, I'll elaborate what constitutes the official back story. **

**For Naruto (pre-time skip): The entire anime applies. This covers everything in the manga and also the necessary filler arcs (ex. Mizuki escapes, Land of Sea, Land of Rice Patties, ect.).**

**Post time-skip: The Anime applied up until episode 302. That means that any manga and filler arcs up until this point apply (that even includes the Chikara arc). After Anime episode 302, the manga applied up until chapter 614. After that, the Jubi wipes out the Shinobi Alliance and this story starts.**

**Movies: The following movies also apply: Land of Snow, Crescent Moon Kingdom, Shion, and Inheritors of the Will of Fire. (Sorry if I don't post the names, but you should get the idea)**

**Others: The OVA to Takigakure also applies**

**There also may be one or two slight changes that I make along the way. If this is the case, I'll explain when I make the necessary change.**

**Anyways, there is one question I want to pose:**

**So currently, there is: Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Neji, Lee, Tenten, Yakumo, and I will add Sai. This leaves me with 14 and one short of 15 which will give 5 complete teams of 3. I am in need of a suggestion for this last member of Naruto's class to give me the five teams. (I know Team Gai isn't in Naruto's class, but that's irrelevant for the question). If anyone has any suggestions as to who this 15****th**** member should be, feel free to let me know.**

**Well, that's going to be it for this chapter. ****PLEASE REVIEW!**


	13. Another Unforseen Problem

**Well, here it is. This chapter focuses more on Hinata and begins her real introduction into this story. I will return to everyone else in the next chapter. This chapter occurs during the next few days after Kurama was transferred back into Naruto.**

**As of now, I think I've got a good idea on who's going to be the 15****th**** person, although this person won't be revealed for a few chapters at least. **

**I'll start by answering a few comments**

** ermda: The reason why Kushina and Minato have not had another child yet was because in all honestly, they were shaken by what nearly befell their new family when Naruto was born.**

** Analon: No, Mikoto is also alive and there are a few other Uchiha alive. Some of them were able to retaliate against Danzo's sneak attack and as such they lived. Roughly 10-12 Uchiha are still alive at this point.**

** anyone who mentioned Zetsu: Yes, he was spying. He only was able to get the part about the jinchuriki transfer. He is not aware Naruto is a time traveler, and the fact that they are changing jinchurikis will shake up Akatsuki slightly. Regarding White Zetsu's comment, one ability that Zetsu has (not sure if it's cannon or not, if it's not then it's still going to be part of this story, is the ability to sense life forms.)**

** Larry: No, Danzo is not with Akatsuki. However, Orochimaru still is considering Itachi won't join.**

** Whoever asked about Tsunade knowing (sorry, too many comments to sort through): Yes, Tsunade will be coming back soon and she will be the final person informed about the future.**

**Well, that's it for now. Enjoy the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

Posted: 5/23/13

* * *

**Chapter 13: Another Unforeseen Problem**

Namikaze Naruto. Images of the blonde enigma flashed in and out of the mind of one Hyuga Hinata. Ever since that one day when she was three and was kidnapped by Kumo, something had been tugging at her mind. If there was anything she remembered about that night, it was the deep blue eyes of the mysterious masked ninja that had saved her from Kumo's hand. She knew she had seen them before, but the answer didn't come until a few years later, when she was saved again by a boy with the same exact eyes as that one night. That boy just so happened to be Namikaze Naruto. She didn't know how to explain it, but she could just tell…

One the outside, he seemed like a happy, cheerful son of the Hokage, not a worry in his life. But through his eyes, she saw a much different person. The soul that had made its home in Naruto's body knew the pain and suffering associated with great losses, something she knew from the untimely death of the mother she loved dearly. But the odd thing was that whenever she looked towards the blonde miniature-Hokage, for some reason she could feel herself being drawn to the boy. This one person had been the cause of so many recent dreams for the young Hyuga. Who was Namikaze Naruto? And why did she feel like she was drawn to him?

For the past few days, she had found herself worried about the blonde. Like everyone else in Konoha, she had heard about the Uchiha Massacre, but was even more shocked to realize that Naruto had been at the scene while it took place. The horrors he must have seen…no wonder he hadn't come to school for a few days.

Hinata was pulled out of her thoughts as she realized that it was, in fact, time to go to school. Making her way out of the house, she passed her father who was enjoying his own breakfast. "Hinata" Hiashi spoke with an emotionless and neutral tone. "After school today, you will be sparring with one of the elders to evaluate your current skills. I hope you will not disappoint me."

Hinata hesitated for a moment. The spars with the clan elders were always harsh and it was as if they were trying to show her just how worthless she was. Hinata knew she wasn't liked by the clan. They saw her as a kind and gentle soul, weak by their standards and not fit for the title of clan heiress. Normally, these spars went something along the lines where the elder she was sparing was ruthless, completely forgetting the fact that she was still a child and in the academy. Sadly for her, her father was still stuck in the old ways of the clan and was nearly as strict as the elders themselves when it came to training.

The young Hyuga said nothing as she made her way to the academy. Hopefully something, or someone, would cheer her up and not make this day a complete disappointment for her. Seeing as she just wanted to get away from the Hyuga compound, Hinata had actually arrived at the academy relatively early, while everyone was still outside enjoying the late spring weather before classes started. Still, she kind of just wanted to be alone so she made her way into the classroom.

"Wait! Stop!" shouted a familiar voice as she took a step inside the room. Before she knew it, someone had yanked her out of the way of what appeared to be a flying tomato. Unfortunately, said person ended up tripping over the steps in the room, taker with them as they tumbled down the stairs.

As the Hyuga girl was able to regain her bearings, she saw that she was now laying across something orange.

"Ouch. That really hurt, -ttebayo!" said the person in question.

Apart from the orange and the verbal tick, it didn't take Hinata too long to register who it was she had landed atop and it took even quicker to jump back, turn about as red as the tomato that had nearly pegged her, and try her best to become one with the wall behind her.

"N-naruto-k-kun, a-are y-you o-okay?" stuttered a worried Hinata.

"Yeah, thank Hinata" replied Naruto. "I'm sorry I almost hit you with that tomato launcher."

Hinata wanted to ask why Naruto had a tomato launcher rigged to a pressure plate, but the blonde spoke first. "You see, Mister Grumpy-pants over there needs something to cheer him up after what happened to him and his family. I figured seeing all those fan girls pelted in the face by tomatoes would give him a laugh or two."

Hinata looked up to see an irritated Sasuke, sending the blonde a death glare due to being called 'Mister Grumpy-pants'.

Naruto had gone back to rigging his pressure panel for the tomato launcher as Hinata took her usual seat in the back of the room. She had only been here for two minutes, but already Naruto was doing what he did best and trying to cheer up one of his friends. She couldn't help but smile at the blonde. Despite witnessing the same horrors that Sasuke had, Naruto was still being positive and that was what she had admired the most about him. Despite whatever may have hurt him in the past, he was still able to keep a warm smile on his face.

About 10 minutes later…Splat! Naruto's latest prank had claimed its first victim, one of Sasuke's largest fangirls, Ami. Naruto was already rolling on the ground in side-splitting pain, as he nearly rolled down the stairs (again) laughing. This continued to happen for the next five to ten minutes, regardless of who walked through, although Chouji actually caught and ate his…and the next one…and the one after that…and even the one that was meant for Shikamaru. Those who had belonged to the 'Naruto Fan Club' simply brushed off Naruto's latest prank and were glad that their sunshine was back in class. Those who didn't…well let's just say they weren't happy.

As the final bell rang, the last two students entered the class. Sadly (or thankfully), thanks to a certain Akimichi, Ino and Sakura were spared from Naruto's prank.

"Naruto, move it! It's my turn to sit next to Sasuke-kun!" shouted Sakura.

"Yeah, come on Naruto-kun, let's go sit somewhere else…together" said Ino and that's when it finally dawned on Naruto…Ino was one of HIS fangirls.

"_Oh crap!" _swore Naruto. _"Well, at least that solves the problem about them competing for Sasuke's attention. But still, crap!"_

Before Ino could pull Naruto away or Sakura could wriggle her way in-between them, Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-teme had entered the room as well, setting off yet another one of Naruto's traps.

Iruka had activated a pressure plate that Naruto had rigged just behind the lectern, only instead of catching Iruka in the trap; Mizuki was the one who found himself buried under a mountain of tomatoes.

Iruka just sent Naruto a glare that said 'we'll talk after class' before he resumed the day's lecture.

Still, even the quite Hinata couldn't help but let out a slight giggle at Naruto's morning antics. It was good to see him back in class as he always was able to cheer her up with something.

* * *

While class for Hinata was relatively enjoyable, what awaited her was not. As always, the elder Haro was brutal in the spar and her own father had simply looked down on her with scorn or disappointment. She had even heard him mutter the words 'Hopefully you won't be as much of a disgrace' to her four-year old sister who was observing the spar.

The bruised and sore Hinata was now lying in her room, trying to nurse her own aching body.

"Neesan?" called out a voice from outside her room. Calling out, Hinata let her younger sister, Hanabi, enter. "Neesan, are you okay?" asked the four-year old Hyuga.

"I am…" replied Hinata. She wasn't telling the truth, but she didn't want to worry little Hanabi.

"Neesan, why do father and the elders do this to you?" asked Hanabi as she noticed the bruises on Hinata's arm from the spar.

"F-father can be…very strict" said Hinata. "I-I know h-he means best a-and I try to impress him, b-but it's never enough…"

Her father had started training her at the age of three in the Hyuga arts and for nearly the past seven years, it's just been one disappointment in his eyes after another. And ever since last year, when Hanabi turned three, the time her father spent on her became less and less as he began to shift his attention to Hanabi. No matter how hard Hinata tried, it was never enough to impress her father and she feared that her father would soon give up on her completely. Once that happened, it would only be a matter of time before he had her branded and cast aside.

"Neesan…" said a sorrowful Hanabi. Hinata began to slowly pick herself up from her bed and to her feet as she walked to and out of her bedroom door. "Neesan, where are you going?"

"I…I just need to take a little walk Imouto" smiled Hinata before she left the Hyuga compound all together.

* * *

Kushina clapped her hands together and immediately the golden chakra cloak that she had used a few weeks ago enveloped her. "You know, this is actually kind of cool, dattebane!" exclaimed Kushina. She and Naruto were out in the private Namikaze training grounds with Naruto helping his mother get a feel for the Kyuubi-mode chakra cloak that she was now able to use since Kurama had graciously left her a sizeable portion of his own chakra.

"Huh?" Kushina said, picking her head up and looking in a direction not too far away. "What's this?"

"What's what?" asked Naruto.

"It feels like someone's in pain and suffering" said Kushina. By accessing the Kyubi-chakra-mode, she had also accessed one of the special abilities associated with it, the Negative Emotions Sensing ability. And right now, she could tell that someone was hurt and was suffering, not too far away from where they were.

Kushina darted off towards the source of these emotions, with Naruto curiously following from behind. As Kushina and Naruto came to a secluded clearing with a large pond in the middle, they saw a small girl with short midnight-blue hair sitting at the waterside and crying.

"_Is that?_" asked Kushina as she began to recognize just who it was. However, Naruto was already walking forward towards the girl at the water's edge.

"Hinata?" called out Naruto. Unfortunately, this only served to startle poor Hinata, who had thought she was alone. Despite the person being Naruto, she instinctively jumped up and backwards away from Naruto. Unfortunately, this resulted in her falling into the pond. "Hinata!"

Naruto ran out onto the water, helping the startled girl regain her composure and lift her out of the water. "Hinata, are you okay?!"

"N-naruto-k-kun? Eep!" Hinata squeaked when she realized that Naruto was actually within just a few inches of her.

"_Since when could Naruto walk on water?"_ asked Kushina as she had witnessed that Naruto was in fact standing on the water's surface. _"Wait…never mind."_

Kushina joined her son and the now soaked Hinata. "Oh dear. I'm sorry we startled you. Here, let me get you out of that soaked jacket" said Kushina as she removed Hinata's now soaked and heavy jacket. Her breathing had increased due to being startled, but every time she breathed heavily, there was a slight wince of pain. As she got past the sleeves of the shirt Hinata was wearing underneath, she spotted a large black and blue area on Hinata's upper arm.

"Hinata, where did you get these bruises?" asked Kushina before Hinata could attempt to pull her jacket back over herself to cover them up.

"I-It was n-nothing. I was t-training" stuttered the shy girl. For some reason, Kushina didn't quite believe the girl could tell that she was obviously hiding something.

"Well how about we go back to our place and get you dried off. It may be warm out, but you can still catch a cold if you're all wet" said Kushina.

* * *

Back at the Namikaze household, Kushina walked in carrying a still damp Hinata on her back, with Naruto following closely behind.

"_I've never been to Naruto-kun's house before"_ thought Hinata as she surveyed the place Naruto called home. Unlike the Hyuga compound, it was a warm and inviting household with some neatly arranged furniture, some plants, and a few pictures along the walls. The Hyuga compound was unfortunately, relatively bland and even the only picture she had in her room was a small bedside frame with a picture of her mother. There was nothing scary or surprising about this household, unless you count the man who just appeared out of nowhere in a bright yellow flash.

"Eek!" squeaked Hinata as Minato's sudden appearance startled the young Hyuga.

"Minato! You scared her" reprimanded Kushina, who now had a timid Hinata hiding behind her. _"This is why I don't want TWO Yellow Flashes!"_

"Oh sorry. You must be Hiashi's daughter Hinata" said Minato, smiling down at Hinata.

"H-h-hokage-sama…" stuttered Hinata.

"Please, Minato's fine" replied Minato.

"Y-yes, M-minato-san" said Hinata.

"So what's she doing here? Did Naruto decide to bring a new friend from school home?" asked Minato. "And why is she soaking wet?"

"Well, Naruto and I were kind of training together and we found her at the edge of the pond and kind of startled her" said Kushina. "That caused her to fall in, so here we are. Come on, Hinata-chan. Let's get you out of those we clothes. I'm sure I can find something of mine for you to wear while yours dry."

Hesitantly, Hinata followed Kushina upstairs and into the bathroom. However, Kushina was less worried by the wet clothes and more so what she would find underneath those clothes.

"So Naruto, mind telling me about this tomato launcher at school today?" asked Minato, earning a foxy grin from his son.

"Well dad, you see…"

"Oh Minato…" called out Kushina from upstairs in a sweet, gentle, and if you knew her well enough, the 'someone's dead' voice, something she picked up from her sensei. "Where did you put my sword?"

Naruto and Minato both immediately paled at Kushina's question, remembering the reason why they hid it in the first place.

"Quick dad, escape plan alpha!" shouted Naruto as he latched onto his dad and they were gone in a panicked flash of yellow.

* * *

The Hyuga clan, now the strongest _clan_ in all of Konoha after the incident about two weeks ago. They were a clan who recognized and praised the strong and were prideful and entrenched in their own traditional ways.

After a long training session with his younger daughter Hanabi, Hiashi was sitting in his study enjoying a cup of tea as he reflected the progress his youngest daughter was showing. Even at the ripe age of four, Hanabi was already showing prowess as a strong and worthy warrior. His eldest daughter; however, was not. She was timid and kind, something looked down upon by all Hyuga. Once again, he had been disappointed by her progress as seen from the spar with the elder Haro earlier today. Simply put, she was weak.

Hinata had fallen in the spar miserably. While it was never expected that a 9 year-old child would win against an elder, he had seen no signs of improvement in her form or her skills at all. All in all, his eldest daughter was weak and a failure. If things kept up the way they were, then Hiashi would have no choice but to name Hanabi the true heir to the clan, leaving Hinata to be cast aside into the branch house at best.

Just earlier today, Hinata had gone out on a 'walk', following her shameful failure of a spar. Hiashi knew where she probably went. There was a small pond not too far away from the compound that was isolated by forests. It was a place where her mother would take her all the time when she was little and it was normally the place Hinata would go and think or, in this most shameful case, cry.

He had been generous and given her a few minutes before sending Ko to go and retrieve her.

"Hiashi-sama, I went to the pond you described but she wasn't there" addressed Ko as he arrived at Hiashi's study.

Hiashi sighed. Where did she run off to this time? "Very well gather a few others and search the village for her" said Hiashi. She would most certainly be in trouble for leaving the clan unsupervised. Had she stayed at the pond, he might have been a little more lenient, but considering that it appeared as if she had simply ran off, that would no longer be the case.

"Hiashi-sama!" shouted another Hyuga, who looked as if he had just seen the Shinigami himself. "At the gate…Kushina-sama wishes to speak with you…she has her sword."

Every Hyuga in the room paled at that mention. If Kushina was carrying her sword around the village, then it was obvious she wanted someone's head. The last time this had happened, Kushina had discovered a scene in one of Jiraiya's books that closely resembled the first night she and Minato had spent together. The following result was not pretty and Jiraiya had been beaten even closer to death than that one time Tsunade caught him peeping on her in the hot springs.

The Hyuga's saw themselves as the strongest clan in the village and the number of people they truly feared could be counted on one hand…Uzumaki Kushina was one of those people.

* * *

After Kushina had stormed out of the house carrying her sword, both blondes in the household flashed back into the middle of the living room, a look of relief on their faces. "Whew. Thank Kami she's not after one of us" commented Naruto.

"I just hope Sensei didn't anything that ticked her off again" commented Minato.

"Umm…" a quiet voice came from up the stairs and Naruto and Minato realized that Hinata was still in the house (wearing some drier, yet rather big clothes).

"Oh, Hinata? Do you know why Kaachan went storming off like she did?" asked Naruto.

"W-well, y-you see…"

Flashback no Jutsu

Kushina had taken the lavender-eyed girl up to the bathroom to change her out of the wet clothes…and to investigate a bit further into the bruise that was on Hinata's arm.

As Kushina returned to the bathroom, carrying some of her old clothes that would have to work for Hinata until hers dried, she noticed the young Hyuga wrapped tightly in a towel, trying to cover her arms.

Moving to remove the towel from Hinata so that she could finally get the young girl out of her soaking wet clothes before she caught a cold, Hinata held on tight, trying her best to hide something.

"Aww, don't be shy dear. I won't bite or anything, -ttebane" smiled Kushina as Hinata gave in and allowed Kushina to remove the towel, allowing the redhead to look at the bruises on her arm again. _"Even for training, those bruises look a little too much. And even I'm afraid to look under that shirt she's wearing."_

Kushina moved then to take the soaking wet shirt off of Hinata, again with the young Hyuga hesitantly refusing to have the shirt moved. "I'm sorry Hinata-chan, but we need to get that shirt off of you. If we don't you'll most certainly get sick and you don't want that now, do you?"

Hinata shook her head, realizing that Kushina was right as a slight chill shook her body. At least they were in the privacy of the bathroom, and Kushina was actually someone she knew from when her mother was still alive. Hinata had remembered her mother and Kushina being rather close friends, along with Uchiha Mikoto, and despite not talking to Kushina much recently, Hinata still saw the woman as a close family friend.

As Kushina began to remove Hinata's soaking shirt, what lied below horrified the redhead. The bruise on the shoulder wasn't the only bruise on the young girl's body. In fact, she had quite a few of them scattered across her abdomen and back as well, indicating that she had been beaten quite badly and not too long ago.

"_These bruises aren't from training. It's like they beat the poor girl. What the hell would warrant this?! Hikari, please forgive me for what I'm about to do to those bastards you called your family"_ thought Kushina. She quickly dried Hinata off and put some drier clothes on the girl before turning to the door.

"Hinata dear, please tell me everything that's been going on at home" asked Kushina. Hinata gave in, telling her about the spar with Haro earlier today and then continuing on to the multiple spars in the past that ended nearly identical to the one today. It was also then that she revealed that her father had practically given up on her prowess, berating her as weak and hopeless.

"Oh Minato…" Kushina called out of the bathroom in a sweet and kind voice that foreshadowed someone's imminent doom…a talent she had picked up from her own sensei before she left Konoha due to numerous tragedies. "Where did you put my sword?"

End Flashback no Jutsu

"_Damnit, I thought I told Hiashi to change those traditionalist views of his and the clan!"_ thought Minato. As a good friend of Hizashi, Minato had always been against the way the main branch of the Hyuga Clan had treated the side branches and he had been trying to get the Hyugas to drop some of their ancient traditions. He and Jiraiya were also looking into a way to counter and remove the infamous Caged Bird Seal, but they were having trouble decoding the entire sealing matrix due to the secrecy of the Hyugas. Still, it disgusted Minato by the way the main branch treated one of their own. He might have been Hokage and leader of the village, possessing a large amount of political power; however the clans were still able to manage their own internal affairs due to a few laws set up during the Shodai's time as Hokage and during the founding of the village. He had been working to undo or revise some of these laws, but he had not gathered enough support from the clan heads to do such.

"Naruto, would you mind watching Hinata-chan for me? I need to go make sure Kushina's damage is only limited to the Hyuga compound" said Minato.

Naruto nodded and Minato was gone in a flash as he went to settle Kushina down before the damage was more than just limited to the Hyugas.

"_What the hell is wrong with that clan? First Neji in the previous timeline and now Hinata-chan?"_ thought Naruto. _"It wasn't like this in the past. I mean, Hiashi was still kind of strict, but he never treated Hinata like this. What happened that would have changed him? I didn't change anything with the Hyuga yet…oh wait. I might have…"_

Naruto recalled over 6 years ago when he was the one to stop Hinata from being kidnapped. In the past, Hizashi had sacrificed himself and that event triggered a series of events that eventually led to the Hyuga clan head opening up and beginning to oppose some of the Hyuga's strict traditions. However, since Hizashi never had to sacrifice himself, meaning that Hiashi hadn't begun to open up and was still entrenched in the Hyuga's strict, and stupid, traditions. Unfortunately, a kind soul like Hinata, who deserved none of this, was simply a victim of tradition.

Turning to look at the depressed girl, who had taken a seat on one of the chairs, Naruto thought. _"You were the kindest person I ever knew. I don't know what's going through their heads, but your clan…your family has no right to treat you like that"_ thought Naruto. _"It's like I promised Neji, I WILL change the Hyuga."_

"_**This never was a matter of right or wrong. It's about power and strength. Even in the past, those Hyuga bastards only looked at the strong who shared their ideals. That girl may be stronger than even she thinks, but she'll never be accepted by them because of who she is"**_ commented Kurama.

"_Huh? Hey Kurama, I thought we wouldn't be able to communicate like this for awhile until my seal was loosened" _replied Naruto.

"_**Apparently not. I can still talk to you, but I can't assist you for a few years. Which is good I suppose, because it won't get as lonely in here"**_ replied Kurama.

"_So anyways, that's why they don't like her? Because she's being exactly who she's supposed to be?"_ thought Naruto.

"_**Humans can be cruel in that sense, only recognizing certain traits that they see as ideal. If you aren't exactly how they think you should be, then they just toss you aside."**_

"Hinata-chan, are you okay? Can I get you anything?" asked Naruto. _"Hinata-chan? Where'd that come from?"_ Naruto had just added the –chan honorific subconsciously.

Hinata shook her head. "T-thank y-you, b-but I d-don't want to b-burden you" stuttered the Hyuga girl. Unfortunately, this only served to further his current frustration.

"Don't say that!" shouted Naruto, before flinching as he realized that he had actually shouted at Hinata. "I'm sorry. But please don't do that. Remember what I told you a few years ago? When those bullies were picking on you?"

"_Don't do that…d-do w-what?...Doubt yourself. You're not weak and you can be strong if you just believe in yourself. Be who you want to be, not what other's are trying to make you out as."_

Those words for a few years replayed in Hinata's mind. "I-I d-do" replied Hinata.

"I don't care what those stuck up pricks say. You're not a burden and you're not weak" replied Naruto with a fire in his eye.

N-naruto-k-kun" was all Hinata could say. "Arigato."

"Hey, I think there are some cinnamon buns from breakfast still in the pantry. Maybe those will help cheer you up" said Naruto as Hinata's own salivary glands began to work against her. Cinnamon buns were by far her favorite food.

A few minutes after Naruto dug them out of the pantry and reheated them, Hinata was having a hard time not drooling as the cinnamony aroma wafted through the house and tickled her nose.

"Here. Kaachan baked these. They're actually pretty good, although I honestly prefer her breakfast ramen" said Naruto as he handed Hinata the fluffy pastry of cinnamony goodness.

Taking a bite of the pastry, Hinata's taste buds were bathed in cinnamon goodness. The last time she had cinnamon buns this good was when her own mother baked them for her. It appears as if her mother and Kushina had traded recipes in the past or given each other tips.

"WHY THOSE BASTARDS! HOW DARE THEY EVEN THINK OF DOING THAT TO A LITTLE GIRL! DATTEBANE!" shouted Kushina from just outside the door as she stormed through the door, a not so happy Minato trailing just behind.

Kushina slammed the door behind her, causing the entire house to shake and Hinata to 'eep'.

"Kaachan? Is everything okay?" asked Naruto.

"You mean besides you getting into my breakfast for tomorrow?" asked Kushina.

"Heh, sorry" grinned Naruto.

"It's okay. You were trying to cheer up Hinata-chan" commented Kushina.

"So is everything okay?" asked a concerned Naruto.

Kushina sighed. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, Hinata-chan."

Flashback no Jutsu

"Kushina-san, may I ask the meaning behind this visit?" asked Hiashi.

"I'm here on behalf of your daughter" said Kushina.

"I take it you know the whereabouts of Hinata?" asked a neutral Hiashi.

"My son and I found her by a pond, crying. We accidentally startled her and she ended up falling in, so we took her back to get her dried off. But do you know what I found when I got her out of those soaked clothes?" asked Kushina with venom in her voice. "Her entire body was rattled with bruises!"

"She was sparring with the elders today. A few minor bruises are expected after an intense training session. I doubt even you can't say that Naruto's never come out of a training session unmarked" explained Hiashi.

"I could understand a few _minor_ bruises; however, these were anything but! One, the number of distinct bruises were at least 10 and they were rather severe. And two, I may be no medic, but I'm confident she's got a cracked rib!" spat Kushina. "If that's what you call training, especially considering she's only an academy student, then I hate to imagine the kinds of torments you'll put her through when she graduates!"

"Your concern for my daughter is touching, but I simply ask that you keep your nose out of MY clan's private business" spoke Hiashi.

"Hiashi, I thought I told you to lighten up on your clan's outdated traditions" retorted Minato as he flashed next to Kushina.

"Hokage-sama!" exclaimed a few Hyugas as their Hokage arrived on scene.

"Minato" called out Hizashi as he made his way towards the commotion in the clan's courtyard.

"Hiashi, I've seen some of the marks on your daughter and I'll say for sure that they are more than just the byproduct of some training session" spoke Minato. "May I speak with the elder who Hinata spared with?"

The elder Haro stepped forward. "Hokage-sama."

"Haro-san, I understand you were the one who sparred with Hinata today? The one who gave her those marks and bruises?" asked Minato.

"I am the one who spared her, but it is not my fault she is in her present state" commented Haro. "Perhaps if she were stronger, then she could have prevented this."

"Oh, so now you're placing the blame on her?! You're blaming the numerous _spars_ that ended just like that one on MY goddaughter?!" shouted Kushina. "Why don't you and I fight and I'll show you exactly what she had to go through, dattebane!"

"Normally, I could excuse this as a normal training exercise, but Kushina's right" said Minato. "This was not a onetime occurrence and the injuries point more towards abuse than just the byproducts of a training session."

"She told me that this was how spars normally would go for her. How she would fear and dread the days you had her spar against the elders" said Kushina, directing her rage at Hiashi. "She's your daughter! Why must you subject her to such torments?!"

"I am simply doing what I must in the best interest of the clan. Hinata is below the standards of the clan. She is weak for an heiress" explained Hiashi.

"Only because you never encourage her or help her. All you did was berate her and toss her aside!" By this point in time, Kushina's hair resembled nine tails and if Kurama was still sealed inside her, she most certainly would have dawned a tailed chakra cloak.

"If you believe otherwise, then why don't you take over her training? If she's got no use for the future of this clan, then she might as well be of use to the village" spoke Hiashi.

"You know, perhaps I will!" replied Kushina. "I can't believe you of all people have failed to see just how like Hikari she is. You have no idea how to raise her! She just requires the proper sort of encouragement! –ttebane!"

"If that is what you believe, then I'll turn full responsibility for her over to you. I'll be over in the morning to sign the necessary documents, Hokage-sama" spoke Hiashi. He wasn't fast enough to block or avoid the slap that Kushina lashed him with across his cheek, prompting Hiashi to activate his own Byakugan and prepare to retaliate. "Kushina, calm down" ordered Minato, not wanting this to escalate any further. While it might have been satisfying, assault would not better the situation.

"Fine" said Kushina as she turned to walk out of the compound with Minato behind.

"Now before you go" spoke Haro. "We need to make arrangements for Hinata to…" Haro found himself at an immediate loss of words as he felt the cold steel tip of a sword against his throat. The tip had broke the skin just enough to draw a drop of blood. Kushina had drawn her sword with immense skill at a speed that not even a Sharingan would be able to see and her eyes were red, subconsciously drawing on the Kyuubi chakra present within her.

"**If you even think about placing that damned seal on her…I promise you I'll make what Danzo did to the Uchiha clan look like mere child's play"** growled Kushina.

Letting her own KI flare to make her point, Kushina recalled her sword as she turned to Hiashi. "She would be ashamed by what you've become since she left this world for a better life."

Following Kushina out of the gates, Minato spoke the last words. "I strongly suggest you rethink your clan's ways, Hiashi. The next time, I won't be here to stop my wife from cutting lose."

End Flashback no Jutsu

Hinata could only help but cry as she had just been given the new that her father had effectively tossed her out of the clan. Why did she have to be weak? Why couldn't her father acknowledge her and love her like a father was supposed to? Was she really that pathetic that even her own father couldn't look at her anymore?

She felt herself embraced in caring arms by the redheaded woman that was her godmother. _"You were there for Naruto-kun in the past. I know you were too shy to come forward, but you were one of the few who saw him for what he truly was. I can't believe this happened, but no matter what, I'll be here for you"_ thought Kushina.

* * *

Later that night, Naruto was sitting alone in his own room, reflecting on what exactly had just happened. For some reason unbeknown to Naruto and his parents, Hinata had been kicked out of her own family for being too kind and gentle, one of the best things about her. As her godmother, Kushina was more than happy to take the poor girl in and had already pledged to herself and Hikari to look after and raise Hinata in a manner that her former teammate would have preferred.

Kushina had already noticed the blush that crept onto Hinata's face and unlike Naruto, who was still shown to be rather oblivious in this timeline, despite having a mind that had already been influenced by the self-proclaimed super pervert, she knew that somehow the girl was already developing that same crush on the blonde that she had in the past.

However, the main question still remained. Hiashi was not like this in the past. Why was he this cold? Knocking on the door to Naruto's room, Kushina entered with a curious Minato following.

"Naruto-kun, do you have any idea on what might have happened to cause this?" asked Kushina as Minato closed the door, wanting to have a private conversation with Naruto.

"I've been thinking about it. I mean, there are a lot of things. By stopping the Kyuubi attack, I made it so the Uchiha never revolted, even though the end was nearly the same" said Naruto, saddening Kushina a little. "The only thing I changed was the Hyuga incident…wait! That might be it!"

"You mean when Kumo tried to kidnap Hinata and a three year-old you, using an advanced transformation, stopped it?" asked Minato.

"Yeah. If I remember now, Neji told me something about Hiashi starting to oppose the Hyuga's strict traditions after his father sacrificed himself in the past" replied Naruto.

"But Hizashi's still alive. I see…" replied Minato. "If Hiashi warmed up because of his brother's noble sacrifice that opposed clan traditions, then because Hizashi never sacrificed himself…Hiashi's still lost in that traditional mindset of his."

"And poor Hinata-chan was just a victim" said Kushina.

"She never was arrogant, or traditional. She was kind and sweet" replied Naruto. "That was always the best thing about her, even if she was a little weird."

Their conversation was interrupted as Minato sensed someone was at their door, via the seal matrix that was spread up across the Namikaze estate. A few seconds later, a knock was heard at the door, and the blondes and red made their way down to the living room.

"Hizashi? What are you doing here?" asked Minato as he opened the door.

"I am here on behalf of my brother" spoke an irritated Hizashi. "I have the documents he requested signing. He feels it best to resolve this issue sooner rather than later, and for once I agree with him. Is she alright?"

"And why would you want to know? You and your clan abuse her and NOW you're worried about her?" growled Kushina.

"Kushina, please. If there's anyone I trust from the Hyuga's its Hizashi. At least let him speak" replied Minato.

"Thank you, Minato. First allow me to apologize for my brother's foolish actions yesterday, but I do agree that Hinata-sama is better off here than in the clan" replied Hizashi. "The branch has looked kindly upon Hinata-sama, but we've always been hesitant to help her out because of…well, you know. The main family has always looked down upon her as weak and unworthy. They use those _spars_ as an excuse to punish her for being weak. And if things were to continue as they are, we fear deeply for the girl."

"What do you mean?" asked Kushina.

"If there is anyone who we feel doesn't deserve the fate of the Caged Bird Seal, it is her. We were afraid that they would most certainly seal her one day soon" responded Hizashi. "However, in Hiashi's brashness, and thanks to your little outrage Kushina-san, he has hesitated long enough to produce these documents before having her sealed. With them signed, he's releasing her into your custody and thus sparing her from the fate we all feared. I want to thank you one last time, and apologize for the events that transpired. Hopefully, she will be happier here."

Before Hizashi left, Minato and Kushina had signed the documents.

Up in the guest room, Hinata was busy trying to cry herself to sleep, a few thoughts on her mind, but one prevailing…Hanabi. She loved her sister and was fearful of what would befall Hanabi without her there.

* * *

"So the Kyuubi jinchuriki has switched has it?" asked a silhouetted figure with rippled eyes.

"We arrived just at the end of the transfer ritual to realize what they were doing" spoke a plant-like figure. **"The jinchuriki is now their 9-year old child. The reasons behind are still unknown."**

"This does complicate things a little. The only reason I could think of, is that they have become aware of our operations" commented a masked figure. "Or perhaps this makes things a bit easier for us."

"_Kukuku, what are you up to now, Minato?"_ thought a snake-like figure. _"Making your own son a jinchuriki? Even I'm surprised."_

"That may be, but there's no way they could have realized our true goals by now" commented the ripple-eyed figure. "Our primary mission is to prepare for when we make our move on the biju. To do this, we need to strengthen ourselves first and foremost. While it is a relief that we know of the change in Kyuubi jinchuriki, there is not much we can do at the moment, so for now we shall continue working on recruiting the three remaining members required before we can advance our plans."

"Perhaps you'll find one I can't kill for once" commented the masked figure. "It really does drain our coffers every time I end up killing one."

* * *

"Hey Hinata-chan, I'm sorry everything happened" said Naruto as he and Hinata were on their way back from the Academy the next day. Hinata was still in a state of depression after everything that happened and Naruto felt that it was partially his fault.

"I-its o-okay" stuttered Hinata. "Y-you d-d-didn't do a-anything." The rest of the walk was shared in an awkward silence and when they arrived at home, Hinata just went to the room that Kushina and Minato had given her…her room.

Leaving Naruto and his mother alone in the living room, the two grew concerned about the young ex-Hyuga's state of mind.

"I really hate seeing her like this. Even though she was shy, she was always a cheerful girl" commented Kushina. "I wish I knew of some way to cheer her up."

"Well, I already know how Kaachan" replied Naruto, earning a questioning look from Kushina. "It's about time for Naruto, King of Pranks, to work his magic. That'll surely cheer her up for sure! Dattebayo!"

"Oh, who said you were the _King of Pranks?_ You've still got a LONG way to go before you can even be considered a novice prankster!" argued Kushina. "If anyone of us is the Queen of Pranks, it's me! Dattebane!"

"Please. You call dying the ANBU uniforms a prank? That was just a warm up for me" replied Naruto.

"Oh really? So you think you're a real hot-shot just because you fired tomatoes at all of your classmates with a jerry rigged launcher?" retorted Kushina.

"Even that was nothing! I've done so much more than that and you don't even know it!" stated Naruto.

"Well why don't you put your prank skills where your mouth is. Or don't you think you can live up to MY legacy?"

"Oh it's so on, Kaachan! Dattenbayo!" exclaimed Naruto.

* * *

From his office, Minato could only help but look at the chaotic state that his village was suddenly thrown into. The sight before his eyes was just like a scene out of a horror story. The walls and buildings were dyed red and bodies were littered throughout the street. Masked beasts ran wildly across the rooftop, screaming agonizing cries that echoed throughout the village. And mass confusion ensued as the severely dwindled forces of Konoha tried their best to understand what sort of enemy had besieged their village. Ringing and blasts echoed through the village's ears and growling of ravenous beasts could be heard in the distance.

War had come to Konoha…much earlier than Minato had ever anticipated.

* * *

_**Author Notes**_

**Why was this chapter like this? Well, in cannon, Hiashi was still a very strict individual. Even with all of the episodes revolving around Neji, Hinata, and the Hyuga clan, a lot is still left to be interpreted. I see Hiashi as being like all main family Hyugas, strict, harsh, and engrained in their traditions. In cannon, Hiashi began to oppose this image of a Hyuga head when his brother sacrificed himself for Hiashi. However, Hizashi never sacrificed himself in this story. As such, Hiashi has never opened up and is still a stuck-up, main branch Hyuga. This ultimately led to the fall out between Hiashi and Kushina. Out of pride and rashness, instilled by the argument, Hiashi effectively disowned Hinata who he still saw as a weak failure. Now, Hiashi's not going to remain this way, but it will take some time for him develop into the Hiashi that actually cares for his daughters and not just how strong they are. **

**What will end up transpiring is that Kushina will effectively take over the role Kurenai played in Hinata's life, although maybe a little more involved, in cannon. Hinata will also take up residence in Naruto's house. I said this story will end up being Naru/Hina and that's going to be the case. I'm beginning a bit of development revolving around Hinata at this point in time, but don't expect them to be an official couple for a few years.**

**Akatsuki: At this time, Akatsuki is still in the process of recruiting members. They only have 7 right now: Pein, Konan, Sasori, Orochimaru, Kisame, Kakuzu, and Zetsu (no, Zetsu does not count as 2). Deidara and Hidan have yet to be recruited and we already know about Itachi. The tenth will probably be an OC of some sort (Tobito's not really a member, but he uses Zetsu and Kisame as proxies to Akatsuki).**

**This chapter focused mainly on Hinata and the consequences of Hizashi living. As of now, I will begin to focus a bit more on Hinata as she begins to develop under Kushina's tutelage.**

**For those of you wondering, yes I am pulling Hinata's mother (or at least what's known about her) from ****The Uzumaki Tales: The Return of the Whirlpool****. I am also going to be stealing the idea of a wind-Hinata from that story, and no I am not giving the author of that story any credit (muahaha)**

**A quick note for some of you wondering. I don't know exactly if they were this way in cannon, but the teams of Minato's generation were arranged as such: Minato, Hizashi, and Fugaku were on Team Jiraiya and Kushina, Mikoto, and Hikari were on Team Tsunade. Remember, these teams were formed either during or just after the Second War I believe. **

**I'll touch back on everyone else in the next chapter and Minato finally gets to see the Rasenshuriken ****. **

**Anyways, please review!**


	14. Moving Forward

**Chapter 14: Moving Forward**

**Posted: 7/16/2013**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto**

Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, currently residing in his office at his desk, was in deep thought about everything that had happened in the past few weeks. The chaos that had gripped his mind began just a few weeks ago when Shimura Danzo and his renegade ROOT organization, resulting in the death of most of the Uchiha clan, his old teammate and good friend, Uchiha Fugaku, and the coming forth of a dangerous threat to Konoha.

What followed soon after was probably the hardest for him to comprehend out of everything, but once he thought about everything that had happened over the past few weeks, it all made sense…or at least as much sense as it could. His son, Namikaze Naruto, was somehow a time traveler who had traveled back to the very moment he was born to stop what would have been a catastrophe not just for the village, but for his family as well.

Once he was able to piece that information together, the following action of actually making his son a jinchuriki was made clear as Naruto wasn't the only time traveler amongst them. Still, it was hard to believe that Naruto had managed to break away that cynical and shrewd exterior of Kurama's.

Based on the conversation between him and the eight others who were in the loop of this who time travel ordeal, they figured they still had some time before anything major happened and there was plenty of time to prepare. But still

Just a few nights ago, Minato realized the harsh reality of this entire situation…This was no longer Naruto's timeline. Many things had changed already, whether they were intended or not. The most obvious being that he was still alive and that Konoha was much stronger due to not having suffered what he predicted to be a near 40% loss due to the actions of a certain student of his nearly 10 years ago.

Most definitely, those extra 40% of Konoha's people had already done stuff that they hadn't in the previous timeline, resulting in even more changes, even if they were only minute. It was a result of what was probably the most shocking event that was what allowed for Minato to realize this. For some reason, and his wife's temper not helping the situation, the Hyuga clan had officially disowned and banished their heiress, who Kushina easily realized had developed a massive crush on Naruto in the past and was already starting to show signs of the same crush. The only positive outcomes of this whole ordeal being that Hinata was probably the first Hyuga to be banished without being sealed by their repulsive seal, and that she was now in the care of her godmother.

Still, Minato realized that already enough had changed to warrant his belief that this was no longer the same timeline that Naruto had come from…that pesky little butterfly effect.

Making a quick hand motion, a dog-masked ANBU appeared in front of Minato. "Kakashi, go round the rest of them up. There's something I need to discuss with everyone" said Minato.

"I see you're concerned to" replied Kakashi before shunshining away. However, before he could manage such a move, a large explosion racked the village and Minato shot to the window to see what was going on.

All around the village, multiple explosions were set off and the village itself was thrown into utter chaos.

From the window of his office, Minato spied a number of wild masked and feathered beasts, frantically darting across the rooftops in a panicked state. The main streets in Konoha were dyed in a mixture of red and orange colors with countless bodies lying motionless across the street. It looked as if Konoha had become a battlefield at the center of one of the great shinobi wars.

"Sensei?" asked Kakashi as he walked next to Minato. "What exactly is going on?"

"I think I've got a pretty good idea" replied Minato. "And as much as I hate to say it, two certain someones aren't going to be having ramen for some time."

"Should I assemble everyone at the tower?" asked Kakashi.

"No, I'll handle this 'enemy'" replied Minato. "You just do what you can to calm everyone down." With that, Minato was off in a flash.

* * *

Arriving mere milliseconds later in the center of the main street of Konoha, Minato looked around to all the bodies lying around him and smoke rising from some used smoke bombs, most likely sleeping gas. Thankfully, they were still alive, but the crudely drawn designs on their faces suggested that they had fallen victim to this 'war' that Konoha had found itself caught up in. Surrounding him, were the buildings of the village, splattered in either red or orange paint.

As he was about to flash away to the next scene, one of the feathered masked beasts fell from the top of the buildings, giving Minato a good look at what had befallen his ANBU. Someone had glued his mask on upside down and used some sort of adhesive to cover the poor ANBU in multi-colored feathers.

Minato's next stop on his search for the culprits behind the attacks led him to the Inuzuka compound, where someone had decided to take out quite a bit of frustration on a certain cat that plagues the ninja careers of genin. Now normally, Inuzuka hounds were friendly to cats, but Tora was a different story. Of course, it didn't help that Tora smelled as if she had been drenched in steak sauce. This prank wasn't too bad, and even Minato found it hard for him to pity the demon spawn of a cat. Unfortunately, he'd be getting some complaints from Madam Shinji later.

Minato's next Hiraishin took him near the Nara clan compound, where he could hear a loud ringing coming from the compound. It didn't take Minato's genius to deduce that someone had set off a number of alarm clocks in the Nara's house. This would prove to be a troublesome morning for them.

The sounds of ringing alarms weren't the only disturbing sound for the Nara's morning. Considering the Nara men's liking for most troublesome women, they were probably the one clan that the women of the village didn't have to worry about peeping on them. Still, Minato felt obliged to get his sensei out of the trouble he most likely was in now. However, it wasn't Jiraiya that was the problem.

"_You know, for some reason I can't help but feel this one was warranted. Mizuki is already showing shady behavior and the fact that he actually tried to implement my son as a traitor in the past only makes it even more believable that he hasn't quite changed"_ thought Minato. _"I will need to have him interrogated. If he's working with Orochimaru, that could only result in problems." _ Up until now, most of the pranks had been relatively harmless (physically) and annoying at the most. This would be the first case where someone would most likely be admitted to the hospital…and later to Inoichi.

Someone, most likely Naruto, had dressed a certain white-haired chunin instructor as Jiraiya, tied him up, and left him hanging just above the women's section of the outdoor hot springs. And now poor Mizuki was left strung up like a piñata above a hot spring full of kunoichi who had a bone or two to pick against the one and only self-proclaimed super-pervert. Unfortunately for Mizuki, those were the last kunoichi in the village he wanted beating on him.

"_I think I'll let Mizuki soak for a bit more before sending Yugao to go pick him up, if she ever stops beating on him along with Anko and Kurenai"_ thought Minato. _"And a few of those bumps on him hint that Kushina's already gotten in a few shots."_ And with that, Minato flashed off to the next 'battlefield'…the Hyugas.

Mass chaos had ensued within the Hyuga house this morning. The Hyuga's prided themselves on their all seeing vision and the fact that their compound was virtually impenetrable without being detected, unless of course you were a certain blonde who had already broken into the ANBU HQ…twice in a single week and many times before.

"_This must be Naruto's form of revenge against the Hyugas for what they did to Hinata-chan"_ thought Minato. Again, this was another prank he was reluctant to help fix, but there were some Hyugas (Hizashi) who he still held some level of respect for. Naruto had turned the Hyuga house into a hall of mirrors, using some seals that he had picked up over the past few months to reinforce them with chakra, making them impenetrable to the Byakugan, and sending the Hyugas running around their own house like chickens with their head cut off.

"_Perhaps it's about time I put a stop to them"_ thought Minato before getting a laugh as he witnessed Hiashi run into wall, another wall, a third wall, and finally the wall he originally ran into. Now it was time to find the culprits as he flashed to the seals that he had placed on his family.

* * *

"Just one more touch and then my masterpiece will be complete" grinned Naruto as he was stuck to the side of the Hokage Monument with his chakra, repeating what was most likely his most famous prank from the past. Yes that's right; he was currently busy painting the Hokage monument. As it stood, the Shodaime's head now was painted solid white with a few black outlines surrounding the mouth and eyes. If Naruto knew what it was, the Shodai would look very mime-ish. The Nidaime looked as if he had just graduated clown school. Sandaime Jiji's face resembled the one from the time where Naruto hit him with the Oiroke no Jutsu. Naruto was currently putting the finishing touches on his dad's face, which was nothing more than a few touch-ups like whisker marks to make Minato look more like Naruto, a testament to the dream that still burned strong in Naruto's heart.

"There we go, just one more to go…" Naruto was immediately cut off as he disappeared from the side of the monument and appeared in his dad's office, earning a wave from a certain masked jonin who still had yet to leave to accomplish his own errand.

* * *

"Ya know, I suppose I could stop for one bowl of ramen. Naruto-kun may have inherited my genius, but there's no way he's bested the true prank master" said Kushina to herself as she finished her own prank. Currently, she was bringing retribution upon every store that had overcharged Naruto for goods in the past, which was pretty much all of them. Once the store merchants woke from their smoke-bomb induced slumber, they would discover that instead of being stocked with their normal contents, their shelves would contain nothing but instant ramen.

"Ah Kushina-san" greeted Teuchi, probably one of the few people in Konoha who was currently unscathed. While Kushina was aware that Teuchi made a killing off of Naruto in the past, it wasn't because he held anything against the boy…or that bottomless pit of a stomach he had. "What can I get you?"

"I'll have a large bowl of…" Kushina was cut off as she instantly disappeared in a flash of yellow.

"…pork ramen." By the time she opened her eyes, she realized the ramen aroma was no longer present and she found herself staring at her son, who was pouting on the Hokage's desk with his arms and legs crossed, next to a very irritated Minato.

"Hello honey, I was just about to order ramen, do you want anything?" asked Kushina, trying to get out of whatever trouble she knew was in store for her and Naruto.

"You two will be lucky if you get any ramen for a month" spoke Minato. "Do the two of you realize how much trouble you've caused the village?"

"Oh come on Tou-chan. It couldn't have been that bad" sweated Naruto.

There were several knocks on the door and many villagers and clan heads arrived to voice their complaints.

* * *

Many complaints, scoldings, and headaches later…

A few more knocks were heard on the door and the remaining members of the group who had knowledge on the future entered. Well, Fukasaku didn't come through the door but was summoned by Jiraiya.

"Okay Minato, what did you summon us for?" asked Sarutobi, who had just finished ungluing his grandson from the inside of a square 'rock'.

"I wanted to make something clear that I've realized through a combination of the most recent events and some of the research I did on time travel theory" said Minato. "And that is that I don't think we should just sit idly by waiting for certain things to happen."

"_**While I would normally go against messing with the timeline, we've already done enough of it that this is in no way, shape, or form the original timeline"**_ agreed Kurama inside Naruto's head.

"Kurama actually agrees there. He mentioned something about already meddling too much with the timeline" spoke Naruto, for his tenant.

"That's what I was getting to. Too much has already been changed that things are going to be the same as they were in the past. I believe our best course of action is to prepare for what we know is going to come. In particular, I'm talking about Akatsuki and Orochimaru" spoke Minato.

"The future actions of my former student sure are troubling" spoke Hiruzen. "But Konoha has to be much stronger than it was in the past. We did not suffer the losses we would have from the Kyuubi attack that was prevented in the first place. We have many more strong shinobi to defend the village should Orochimaru ever attack. We have the knowledge of his future endeavors and how we could stop him. And most importantly, we have a strong Hokage that would surely prove a more formidable match against any threats than myself."

"You're still one of the most powerful shinobi in this village, Hiruzen" replied Minato.

"That may be, but I'm no longer the shinobi I used to be" admitted Hiruzen. "But still, that doesn't mean I won't do whatever I have to for this village, even if that means giving my life."

"Hopefully we can avoid that this time around" spoke Itachi.

"Yeah, according to Naruto here, your son Asuma's going to get lucky in a few years with that hot genjutsu mistress" commented Jiraiya before getting slammed in the head.

"Pervert!" shouted Kushina, removing her fist from Jiraiya's skull.

"Jeez, even when Tsunade's not here…"

"Well someone's gotta make sure you're kept in line when Tsunade-sensei's not around."

"Minato, that reminds me" spoke Jiraiya, catching Minato's attention. "My informants have given me a lead on Tsunade's location."

"I assume you want to go and bring her back?" asked Minato.

"And I also want to bring Naruto with me" replied Jiraiya.

"You're not taking Naruto on one of your 'research' trips!" shouted Kushina.

"I swear it's not what you think. I have an idea on Tsunade's location. I believe her to be in a town near the borders of Kusa" replied Jiraiya.

"I believe we should let Jiraiya go. Tsunade would make a valuable tenth member to our group" spoke Hiruzen.

"Ten Akatsuki, ten of us" realized Kakashi, earning a nod from Hiruzen. (**AN: Naruto, Kurama, Minato, Kushina, Kakashi, Itachi, Jiraiya, Hiruzen, Fukasaku, and Tsunade)**

"Precisely."

"But why do you want to take Naruto?" asked Kushina.

"Because, Tsunade won't come back easily and it was Naruto who brought her back last time. If anyone has the best chance at bringing her back, it's him" replied Jiraiya.

"Hey Ero-Sennin, if we're going on a trip, are you going to teach me anything cool? Like you did with the Rasengan?" asked a now hyperactive Naruto and earning Jiraiya a look from Minato.

"I said I was sorry. It's not like I meant to teach the Gaki your jutsu" replied Jiraiya.

"No that's right, I just had to pay for you to 'gather information' in order to get the Rasengan out of you" retorted Naruto. This sent a cold chill down Jiraiya's spine as Kushina sent a harsh glare to Jiraiya.

"Naruto-kun never mentioned anything about having to bribe his birthright out of you" said Kushina a little too sweetly (fyi, that's not how you want her to talk to you).

"What?! I didn't do anything!" defended the poor super pervert.

"Anyways, I actually agree with finding Tsunade" replied Minato. "Not only would she make a valuable member to our team, but I'm sure the hospital could do much better with her in charge."

"I take it you're going to offer her the position as head of the hospital and medical academy?" asked Hiruzen.

"Why not? She IS the best medic ever produced. Besides, she needs some reason to be called back to Konoha. Last time it was to become Godaime, but that's no longer necessary. I'll even allow her to start a program in the academy for aspiring medical ninja" said Minato.

"She would actually like that" replied Hiruzen.

"I think that would be for the best as well" spoke Jiraiya. "But I'm still going to need the Gaki. I feel like I'm going to need him if I have any chance on bringing her back." Jiraiya looked to Kushina, knowing that it was her approval he needed as Minato most likely had no objections.

"Fine, but under one condition" replied Kushina. "From everything Naruto told me about that one girl he encountered with Sasuke, the one with red hair and that was working with Orochimaru. Karin was her name I believe."

"What about her Kaa-chan?" asked Naruto.

"I'm almost certain she's an Uzumaki" stated Kushina, grabbing everyone's attention. "If that's the case, I'm not just going to sit by as Orochimaru gets his slimy fingers on her."

"So if I understand you correct, you want me to infiltrate Kusagakure and bring her back?" asked Jiraiya. Kushina nodded happily. "Sure…because kidnapping a potential shinobi from a neighboring village won't cause an incident."

"Only if you don't get caught" smiled Kushina.

"Oh and while you two are out, I have a favor to ask as well" said Minato.

"What do I look like? A courier ninja" said Jiraiya sarcastically.

"Please tell me we're not going to have to deal with those guys again…" deadpanned Naruto.

"One thing I've been working on is improving our relations with Suna. That way, Orochimaru will have one less ally to use against us. I just need you to deliver this most recent negotiation draft and wait a day or two for the Kazekage's response" said Minato, handing Jiraiya an envelope.

"Suna? That means I can see Gaara!" exclaimed Naruto.

"_**Great…that mean's I've gotta put up with that insane tanuki of a brother…"**_ groaned Kurama.

"Gaara?" asked Kushina. "Oh, isn't he the Kazekage's son?"

"Yeah, and if I remember correctly, he's having trouble in the friends department" said Naruto. "But if we're going to Suna, then perhaps I can show him that he's not alone and stop him before he goes down the path of loneliness and despair. Or at least try to bring him back before he goes too far."

"From what you've told me, it sounds like his seal is unstable" commented Jiraiya. "Perhaps I can see if I can fix it."

"While that may seem like a good idea, be careful when you do that Sensei. I'm trying to improve relations with Suna, not make it look like I'm trying to sabotage their jinchuriki" warned Minato.

"I understand. We'll leave in a few days from now, Naruto" said Jiriaya.

"Minato-chan, I will also prepare to summon you to Mt. Myoboku at around the same time. I hope you're ready. Sage training is anything but easy" said Fukasaku.

"I still wish I could re-learn Sage-mode" groaned Naruto.

"You can once your chakra settles down in a few years, Naruto-chan" assured Fukasaku.

Minato nodded. "Hiruzen, I hope you don't mind holding down the fort until I return."

"I'm sure I can take the hat for a little. After all, now that the paperwork problem has been solved, being Hokage again will be a breeze" smiled Hiruzen.

"So ARE you going to teach me anything cool?" asked a hopeful Naruto.

"You do realize you ARE still in the academy. I could teach you the Bunshin or perhaps the Kawarmi" teased Jiraiya.

"I know an S-rank kinjutsu and you think you can bribe me with stupid illusionary clones?" replied an irritated Naruto.

"Meh, it was worth a try. Perhaps I'll help you a bit with your sealing" replied Jiraiya. Naruto shrugged at this and nodded.

"Speaking of S-rank kinjutsus…" interrupted Minato. "You still have yet to show me the completed version of the Rasengan."

"I can show you right after this. If you'll let me get a bowl of ramen first."

"Oh that's a low blow, -ttebane!" shouted Kushina. Both ramen addicted Uzumakis had been stripped of their ramen privileges for the month as punishment and now Minato was torn between letting Naruto get a bowl and not seeing the fabled Rasenshuriken.

* * *

"Futon: Rasenshuriken!"

'Naruto' charged forward and slammed the spiraling chakra shuriken in to a poor unsuspecting rock, obliterating the rock, all the surroundings, and the shadow clone that Naruto had sent to carry the Rasenshuriken.

Minato's jaw dropped at the resulting crater from the completed form of one of his most prized jutsus. And the next few hours were spent with Minato asking questions out of Naruto and the younger blonde having his dad use shadow clones to learn how to add wind chakra to the Rasengan. Later, all three Uzumakis/Namikazes, joined by an ex-Hyuga, went to Ichiraku as Kushina had…other forms of leverage to get her out of ramen suspension (also known as the couch).

"Okay Naruto, time for you to admit that I'm the better prank master" said Kushina, as she slurped down her 6th bowl of ramen.

"What?! I so out-pranked you!" argued Naruto, finishing his 7th bowl, much to Teuchi's delight. "Just face it, you're all washed up."

"I'll show you washed up!" shouted Kushina as both of them pulled out a red/orange colored paint-filled balloon and tossed them at one another. Now, Minato and Hinata were sitting between the two but Minato wasn't called the 'Yellow Flash' for nothing. Both Minato and Hinata disappeared and the two paint balloons hit their mark.

"I thought we were done with this" said Minato as he and Hinata flashed back to their seats, joining the painted mother and son.

"But we can't just leave it at that! I know!" exclaimed Naruto. "We'll let Hinata-chan decide!"

"Eek!" squeaked Hinata as both Naruto and Kushina stared intently at the poor girl, causing her to pass out. Still, she passed out rather happy at the turn of events in her life. Naruto's family had been more than accepting of her and in all honestly, their little prank war gave her a warm feeling at just how far those two would go to make her happy. While she was still heartbroken that her own father had tossed her aside so easily, the ex-Hyuga was actually looking forward to a life with her godmother…and a certain blonde.

* * *

The following morning,

"Minato!" shouted Kushina as she came bolting from the bathroom, holding a test stick. That could only mean one thing.

Minato peered his head around the corner of the kitchen, only to be glomped by his wife and the results on the test stick being practically shoved into his face.

"Wait…does this mean…" gasped Minato.

Kushina grinned and rapidly nodded her head. "I'm pregnant!"

Minato was left speechless for a moment before a large grin plastered his face. "We're going to have another baby!" cheered Minato. However, a completely different thought was on his mind. _"Great…just what I need…more mood swings."_

"NAMIKAZE NARUTO! GET YOU LAZY BUTT OUT OF BED AND DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!" shouted Kushina.

"_And so we begin…No wait, this is how Kushina normally is" _thought Minato, dreading the next couple months.

* * *

"NAMIKAZE NARUTO! GET YOUR LAZY BUTT OUT OF BED AND DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!"

Naruto was still happily asleep. Today was the one day of the week where he didn't have to go to the academy and could afford to sleep in. That was until he heard his mother's shouting. Immediately after Kushina's screaming rang through the house, Naruto shot straight out of bed, nearly stumbling over the slippers and some clothes he had lying on the floor (his room was cleaner than in the past, but remember he's still a 9/10 year-old boy)…followed by him gracefully tumbling down the stairs of his house and landing in front of his parents, face first.

"Troublesome…" muttered Naruto. _"Damn, I'm starting to sound like Shikamaru. I wonder if his mornings are like this?"_

* * *

Nara household,

"NARA SHIKAMARU! GET THAT LAZY ASS OF YOURS OUT OF BED THIS INSTANT!" Nara Yoshino shouted through the house.

Shikamaru lazily sat up in his bed and let out a big yawn. "Today was supposed to be my day to sleep in…troublesome…"

* * *

Back in the Namikaze house,

"W-what?" stuttered Naruto, his face on the verge of resembling a gapping fish.

"I said, I'm pregnant. In a few months, you're going to have a baby brother or sister" grinned Kushina.

Naruto couldn't believe it. The closest thing he had to a brother before would be Sasuke, and now here he is, actually hearing that he will have one soon.

"That's great, -ttebayo!" exclaimed Naruto, causing a bead of sweat to drop from Kushina's head.

"_I seriously hope the next one doesn't have that verbal tick"_ prayed Kushina.

Walking down the stairs, Hinata heard the announcement and while she was extremely happy for Naruto and his family, she couldn't help but feel a small painful tug at her heart. _"Hanabi"_ she thought. It was actually less than a month before her younger sister's fifth birthday and Hanabi was the one thing about the Hyuga house that Hinata truly missed. The slight look on her face went unnoticed by all except Kushina.

"It's okay Hinata-chan. I know you miss your sister, but I'm sure Ko and Hizashi are making sure that everything is fine" assured Kushina.

"I'll talk with Hizashi and see if I can arrange a meeting between Hinata and her sister before I leave" commented Minato.

"T-thank y-you" replied Hinata sincerely. "B-but w-where are y-you g-going?"

"That's right, we haven't told you yet" said Minato. "I'm leaving for about a month or so for some special training."

"B-but I t-thought you w-were the s-strongest ninja?" stuttered Hinata.

"I may be Hokage, but there's always room to improve and get stronger" replied Minato.

"And I'm leaving for a few weeks with Ero-Sennin" replied a slightly saddened Naruto.

"What?!" squeaked out Hinata. A few weeks without her bright Naruto-kun? How would she manage? "W-what a-bout your f-friends a-and the a-academy?"

"I know, but there are some really important things I need to do with Ero-Sennin. I'm not going to fall behind in school because Ero-Sennin's going to make me stronger than the academy ever could and as for my friends, well I'll be back I promise. I know I'll be away for some time, but I'll come back stronger so that I can help everyone, including you, get stronger as well! –ttebayo!" exclaimed Naruto, flashing a foxy smile.

"And don't worry, Hinata-chan. I'm not going anywhere. In fact, I think it's about time we get started on operation 'show those stuck-up Hyuga's just how wrong they were'! –ttebane!" exclaimed Kushina. "What do you say?"

Hinata thought for a moment, but quickly resolved herself. If Naruto-kun was going to get stronger, then she should as well.

* * *

"Okay class, today I regret to inform you that Mizuki-sensei is in the hospital recovering from some serious injuries" announced Iruka, causing Naruto to snicker a bit.

He turned his head to Sasuke, who was currently wearing a hat with a strand of orange hair sticking out. That had been another of Naruto's pranks the other day, putting orange dye in the Uchiha's shampoo. The only one who came out of that without orange hair was Itachi and another Uchiha (Itachi saw Naruto do this and the other Uchiha was bald to begin with).

"So do you have a way to get this stuff out?" asked an irritated Sasuke.

Naruto sighed and pulled a slip of paper out of his desk, slipping it under the brim of Sasuke's hat and putting some chakra into the paper. The seal on the paper activated and the orange began to fade from Sasuke's hair. "A seal?" asked a curious Sasuke. "Since when could you use seals?"

"My parents _are_ seal masters" replied Naruto. _"I just wish I would have learned this in the past. This fuinjutsu stuff is awesome!"_

"Hn, fair enough" shrugged Sasuke, as he resumed listening to Iruka-sensei's lecture on the history of weaponry. Unlike most lectures, this one was fairly interesting and many students were having silent discussions with one another on what type of weapons they wanted to wield.

In another classroom, an envious girl who was a year older and had buns in her hair listened to a lecture about proper shinobi attire while another boy's eyes widened in awe when their teacher showed a slide displaying a horrific green jumpsuit, modelled by a certain bushy-eye-browed jonin, flashing a most youthful pose.

* * *

Namikaze estate,

Finally, Kushina was getting down to beginning Hinata's training. If her suspicions were correct, it was only a matter of time before the Hyuga's would be eating every comment regarding Hinata being weak.

"Okay Hinata-chan, I want to start off with some chakra control exercises that are reserved for genin-level shinobi, but first there is something I need to see" said Kushina.

"W-what is t-that, Kushina-sensei?" asked Hinata, having accepted Kushina as one of her teachers.

"It's about your chakra" replied Kushina, pulling out a piece of paper. "I remember from my time with your mother that she used wind and water jutsus. The Hyuga style is inherently earth based. If my suspicions are correct, you've inherited your mother's talents, including her wind-dominant chakra nature." Kushina handed the paper to Hinata and instructed her to channel her chakra into it, the result would tell what Hinata's natural element was.

Hinata did as instructed and as Kushina predicted, the paper sliced in two. "Just as I thought." Kushina pulled out a circular disk about the size of a cup coaster and gave that to Hinata. "Now channel your chakra into this. It's a special Uzumaki emblem that my clan used to determine ALL the elements in ones chakra, the primary element, the secondary element, and even a tertiary element in some cases. The only downside with it, which is why I used the chakra paper, is that it doesn't tell which one(s) is stronger."

Hinata took the emblem and did as Kushina instructed. Channeling the chakra, blue and light green appeared on opposite sides of the disk and began to spiral together until meeting in the middle.

"Just as I thought, -ttebane!" exclaimed Kushina. "You're like your mother, and as such the reason the Jyuken was never good was because of the earthen elements to it. They clashed too much with your wind and water natures."

The realization hit Hinata. She wasn't good at the Jyuken because she was a weak failure, she just wasn't taught the proper fighting style.

"Now, this poses a small problem. You see, my elements are water and earth, but not wind. Usually, people start with their strongest element first, which for you would be the wind element. But the two wind users in our house will be away for at least a month" explained Kushina. "I know a few exercises to help, but I can't do much more than that for wind. Water though, is a different story."

"Wait, d-does that mean N-Naruto-kun and M-Minato-san b-both have w-wind chakra?" asked Hinata.

"Yep. Actually, Minato can use wind, lightning, and water with a high degree of proficiency. I think I've also caught him attempting a fire jutsu as well, but nothing compared to those three. Naruto-kun I know for a fact is wind, but I never tested him for a second or even third element" explained Kushina. "Now let's get started on those chakra control exercises. From what Naruto-kun's told me, you already have excellent chakra control so tree climbing and water walking should be a breeze! –ttebane!" _"I'm also going to have to get rid of her stuttering. I'd almost rather have that damned verbal tick, -ttebane!"_

* * *

With Naruto, Sasuke, and Itachi,

All three of them were at the lake that was located behind the Uchiha compound.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!" (Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu)

About half a dozen small fireballs erupted from Sasuke's mouth as Itachi and Naruto sat back and watched Sasuke perform his jutsu.

"Not bad, Sasuke" commented Itachi. "You only had to watch me once there and it didn't take too long for you to get the jutsu down."

Itachi had been working on instructing Sasuke on how to use the Sharingan. One thing Itachi had done was to take it upon himself to train his brother, so that he could help shy Sasuke away from darker paths, should those ever be offered to the young Uchiha.

"But I still didn't get it the first time through-" Sasuke was cut off as Itachi poked him in the forehead.

"Considering you've only just awoken your Sharingan and it still had yet to mature, you did very well" replied Itachi. "Once your Sharingan gets stronger, then you'll find no difficulty in reproducing a jutsu and using it against your opponent. However, I should warn you that it's not right to copy a comrade's jutsu. If someone whom you trust offers you a jutsu, you should work towards learning it as a sign of respect. The Sharingan's copying ability should only be used on an enemy's jutsus. Understand Sasuke?"

"I do, Niisan" replied Sasuke as he went back to the dock to work on that new fire jutsu Itachi had taught him. _"Watch out Danzo. If you ever show your face again, I'm going to kill you now that I have my Sharingan!"_

Itachi turned to Naruto and spoke quietly. "I think we can keep Sasuke under control, but there are others I am worried about. Some of the younger Uchiha and even some adults have begun to develop that 'avenger complex' and are contemplating why the village isn't doing more to hunt down Danzo" explained Itachi. "I am worried that one of them might eventually find darker paths."

"My dad's doing everything to find Danzo, but he and his ROOTs were warped away with Obito. Even Kakashi-sensei said that he can't track them" replied Naruto.

"I understand that, but they don't" replied Itachi as he witnessed Sasuke throw off another volley of fireballs before falling to his knees, the young Uchiha's chakra finally running low.

* * *

The next day in class,

"_Only one more boring class before leaving with Ero-Sennin again"_ thought Naruto.

"Good morning class. Before we begin, I would like to take this time to welcome a new student" spoke Iruka. This caught everyone's attention, even Naruto as the new student stepped into the room. The moment Naruto saw the new student, he was struck. "I would like to introduce you to our new student, Sai."

"_What the hell?! What is Sai doing here?!" _shouted Naruto mentally.

"_**He's probably acting as a little weasel for that Danzo guy"**_ replied Kurama. _**"I say we just get rid of him and be done with any problems he and his puppeteer may cause."**_

"_No. Sai may be an agent of Danzo, but he changed. I won't kill him. He can be changed to join us"_ replied Naruto.

As introductions were going on throughout the class, it was Naruto's turn to introduce himself to Sai. "Hello, I'm Namikaze Naruto."

Sai looked at the blonde jinchuriki with interest, as well as the raven haired bow sitting next to him.

Flashback no Jutsu

Sai knelt in front of his bandaged master on the middle of a bridge in some chamber far beneath the streets of Konoha.

"Soon, I and my men will be leaving Konoha for some time" spoke Danzo. "While I would like to have you accompany us, I have an important assignment for you. As it stands, the Hokage is unaware of your connections to me and after this week is up, I will be considered an 'enemy of the village'. Because of this, I will no longer be able to continue my normal operations from within the village, which means I will need someone to keep an eye on things for me. I already have agents observing certain targets and I am assigning you targets to watch and report on to me. You will become enrolled in the Academy, where I want you to observe the Hokage's son, Namikaze Naruto, and the younger son of Uchiha Fugaku, Sasuke. You are extremely talented for your age and your painting is just wonderful. As of today, you will be known as Sai."

"I am Sai" spoke the pale boy.

"And wipe that fake smile off your face" ordered Danzo.

"My apologies, the book I am reading says a smile is the best way to meet people" said Sai.

End Flashback no Jutsu

"Hello…dickless."

…

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?! THAT'S IT, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" shouted Naruto. Currently, he was being restrained by Sasuke, Kiba, Akamaru, Chouji, and even Shikamaru's shadow, all of which were struggling to prevent Naruto from heeding Kurama's advice and killing the little spy on site.

Many of the girls in the class blushed at the mentioning of Naruto's…manhood and those who considered themselves amongst the Naruto Fan Club, were also being restrained from ripping the pale boy to shreds.

After everything calmed down, it was Sasuke's turn to introduce himself.

"Hello…duck butt."

And so everything that happened with Naruto's outburst, happened with Sasuke's.

And for Sakura, "Hello…Ugly."

I think we all know what happens. Let's just say Sai didn't make a good first impression.

* * *

A knock was heard on Minato's door as he, Jiraiya, Hiruzen, and Fukasaku were finishing up last minute preparations for Minato's training trip.

"Dad, we've got a problem" spoke Naruto as he disregarded the earlier knock and just entered.

A quick explanation regarding the whole Sai incident later and now Minato, Hiruzen, and Jiraiya were all a bit worried.

"If Danzo has one agent of his in Konoha, who's to say he doesn't have more planted amongst our ranks?" asked Jiraiya.

"This is troubling indeed" spoke Hiruzen and Minato at the same time.

"You just worry about your training trip, Minato" said Hiruzen. "I can look into this whole issue. Out of everyone here, I know Danzo the best and I have the best idea on what to look for in picking out any potential spies."

"I want you to leave Sai to me though. In the future, he actually became a good friend and I think I can change him so that he's on our side" pleaded Naruto.

"If Naruto can get through to one of Danzo's agents, then perhaps we can get a lead on where he's hiding" replied Jiraiya.

Hiruzen nodded. "Very well, we'll leave Sai to you."

* * *

The following day at the village gates,

Minato was with Fukasaku and Naruto was packed up with Jiraiya. Kushina, Hinata, Kakashi, Itachi, Sasuke, and Hiruzen were all at the gates to see them off.

"I'll be back in a month or so, honey" said Minato, giving Kushina a loving kiss goodbye.

"You'd better come back. I'm not going to be making the midnight ramen runs, ya know!" exclaimed Kushina. Minato sweat dropped, remembering Kushina's last pregnancy. The current record stood at 6 ramen runs in a single night when it came to cravings. It's a good thing Minato had a Hirashin seal set up at Ichiraku and any store that sold ramen.

"And Jiraiya, you'd better take care of Naruto-kun and remember not to do anything I would frown upon" said Kushina, cracking her knuckles for emphasis.

"Don't worry Kushina, Naruto will be fine with me!" said Jiraiya, shaking his hands rapidly in front of him.

"You'd better come back with a good jutsu, dobe" said Sasuke, smirking at the wince Naruto gave to that nickname. Sasuke didn't call Naruto 'dobe' because Naruto was the dead last. Both of them were competing for the top spot of the class this time around. No, he just did it because it irked Naruto.

"Please teme, I'll come back with something more than that silly match of a fireball you've got" returned Naruto, getting the same reaction out of Sasuke for the 'teme' comment.

"G-good l-luck N-Naruto-kun" stuttered Hinata as she fiddled with her fingers.

"Minato-chan, it's time to go" called out Fukasaku.

"Well, goodbye everyone" waved Minato before he and Fukasaku disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Right! Let's go find Tsunade-baachan!" exclaimed Naruto before he turned and began to walk away.

"You know she's going to kill you if you call her that" warned Jiraiya as he followed the blonde.

"Nah, what's the worst an old bat like her could do?"

* * *

_**Author Notes**_

**Sorry for the delay of the chapter. It's been a busy few weeks. I said I would get this chapter up before taking a leave for vacation and here it is, from the hotel room after a long car ride. I am now on vacation and won't be back until probably the second week of August for ****The Uzumaki Tales**** and probably mid/late August for this story. **

**The next couple chapters will detail the trip for Naruto and Jiraiya as they search for Tsunade, Karin, and make a stop by Suna where Naruto will meet Gaara for the first time (in this timeline). Afterwards, I'm thinking one or two more chapters before the graduation from the academy. **

**Before leaving, I've got a few questions to ask for.**

**First, for Naruto's elements, obviously there is wind as his primary. I was thinking lightning as a secondary and I want to add a third, but I'm not sure if it should be water, earth, or fire. **

**Second, I mentioned this would be NaruHina, but I'm looking for pairing suggestions for Sasuke. Possible options are: Sakura, Karin, Haku (femHaku).**

**Last, what weapon should Naruto wield (I was thinking giving him his dad's kunai)? What weapon should Hinata use? What weapon should Sasuke use?**


End file.
